In the Pack Ice, West of Kvitøya (White Island), Svalbard, Norway
KIT-TI-WAKE! KIT-TI-WAKE!
That is the first thing I hear as I quietly make my way out onto the foredeck of MS Endeavour. The black-legged kittiwakes are out in force, keeping a watchful eye on the pack ice as we crunch through it, stirring up small polar cod. They squawk and squabble and try to be the first to snatch the fish from just below the surface, and it is a heck of a racket as they scream out at each other!
We are WAY up here in the High Arctic (above 80° north), deep into the pack ice searching for more furry polar bears, and our Expedition Leader, Ralph has just announced that there is another polar bear just ahead of the ship. I place a bookmarker in my airport novel that I just can’t seem to get through and I head down from the library to my cabin. I need to bundle up, as I might be outside for some time if this bear is fairly close to the ship like many of the previous twelve bears we’ve seen so far. Yes, twelve, and this is now the THIRTEENTH polar bear of the trip (lucky so far!). I love to be outside in the crisp clean air watching the bears hunting for ringed seals, lounging on the pack ice, or jumping from ice floe to ice floe. I can't seem to get enough of them; they are, so endearing, so engaging, so captivating, and I am therefore one of those people who has a tendency to stay out on deck until I absolutely have to come inside and warm up.
So I gather all the essentials for polar bear watching - my binoculars, my camera and telephoto lens and plenty of extra film. Oh, and my lucky purple wool hat that I got when I was out skiing in Montana. I’m ready for action. Endeavour is crunching through the last of the pack ice separating us from him. I think it’s a “him”. He looks pretty big, even from the deck of our ice-strengthened ship, and our experts have told me that most fully-grown females would be with cubs at this time of year, so it probably is a “him”. The kittiwakes are going crazy and the parasitic jaegers (Arctic skuas) are chasing them to try and steal their hard-won meals. Then, right abeam of the ship, two snow-white ivory gulls land on a chunk of blue ice. While all of this is going on, a squadron of slate-grey northern fulmars are cruising past me just inches from my head, heading for the stern of the ship to see if the kittiwakes missed any cod.
I snap a photo of a kittiwake in flight, and that is the photo of the day. It is a gorgeous bird. Oh, and by the way, there is a polar bear in the background. I’m never going to finish that novel if this keeps up!
KIT-TI-WAKE! KIT-TI-WAKE!
That is the first thing I hear as I quietly make my way out onto the foredeck of MS Endeavour. The black-legged kittiwakes are out in force, keeping a watchful eye on the pack ice as we crunch through it, stirring up small polar cod. They squawk and squabble and try to be the first to snatch the fish from just below the surface, and it is a heck of a racket as they scream out at each other!
We are WAY up here in the High Arctic (above 80° north), deep into the pack ice searching for more furry polar bears, and our Expedition Leader, Ralph has just announced that there is another polar bear just ahead of the ship. I place a bookmarker in my airport novel that I just can’t seem to get through and I head down from the library to my cabin. I need to bundle up, as I might be outside for some time if this bear is fairly close to the ship like many of the previous twelve bears we’ve seen so far. Yes, twelve, and this is now the THIRTEENTH polar bear of the trip (lucky so far!). I love to be outside in the crisp clean air watching the bears hunting for ringed seals, lounging on the pack ice, or jumping from ice floe to ice floe. I can't seem to get enough of them; they are, so endearing, so engaging, so captivating, and I am therefore one of those people who has a tendency to stay out on deck until I absolutely have to come inside and warm up.
So I gather all the essentials for polar bear watching - my binoculars, my camera and telephoto lens and plenty of extra film. Oh, and my lucky purple wool hat that I got when I was out skiing in Montana. I’m ready for action. Endeavour is crunching through the last of the pack ice separating us from him. I think it’s a “him”. He looks pretty big, even from the deck of our ice-strengthened ship, and our experts have told me that most fully-grown females would be with cubs at this time of year, so it probably is a “him”. The kittiwakes are going crazy and the parasitic jaegers (Arctic skuas) are chasing them to try and steal their hard-won meals. Then, right abeam of the ship, two snow-white ivory gulls land on a chunk of blue ice. While all of this is going on, a squadron of slate-grey northern fulmars are cruising past me just inches from my head, heading for the stern of the ship to see if the kittiwakes missed any cod.
I snap a photo of a kittiwake in flight, and that is the photo of the day. It is a gorgeous bird. Oh, and by the way, there is a polar bear in the background. I’m never going to finish that novel if this keeps up!
