POLAR BEAR EXPLORER ON THE M/S FREYA. TRIP LOG July 5-15, 2016

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1 POLAR BEAR EXPLORER ON THE M/S FREYA TRIP LOG July 5-15, 2016

2 YOUR JOURNEY Longyearbyen Seven Islands - Phipps Island Karl XII Island Storoya Great Island Austfonna (Kapp Mohn) Austfonna (Bravelbreen) Austfonna (Vibebukta) Wilhelm Island Wahlberg Island Gylden Island Alkefjellet Sorgfjorden (Fjord of Sorrow) RaudFjorden (Hamilton Bay) Magdalenafjord Prins Karl Forland Alkhornet, Trygghamma Wahlenberg Glacier

3 DAY 1: LONGYEARBYEN The journey begins... 5 JULY 2016 We were picked up by bus and transported to MS Freya where we met Mats, our expedition leader who gave us a safety briefing and introduced us to our expedition ship crew. We headed north up Forlandsundet towards the pack ice. As we hadn t reached the main wildlife area yet the focus was on the birdlife we saw as we sailed by. This included fulmars, puffins (Atlantic), guillemots, little auks, some guests also saw walrus and whale (albeit briefly and at a distance). We were all very excited over what we could expect for the upcoming days.

4 DAY 2: PHIPPS ISLAND The first landing 6 JULY 2016 Today we headed through the pack ice eastwards towards Phippsøya. On the journey we saw Greenland (harp) seals swimming alongside the boat, a bearded seal right beside the ship on an ice floe, kittiwakes and glaucous gulls. After anchoring up near Phipps Island, we took the Zodiacs out for a dry landing with the aim of wandering around the island. Instead, we were lucky to meet a large colony of walrus right on the beach. We safely walked towards the group and observed the interesting and sometimes amusing behaviour of the walrus. There were a number of juveniles as well as three young calves. On numerous occasions, when the walrus got a bit anxious or wary of our presence more than half of the herd rushed into the ocean.

5 DAY 3: CONTINUING NORTH INTO THE PACK ICE Our first polar bear 7 JULY 2016 We travelled further north and into the pack ice today. Once we had arrived in this magical location we continued east along the edge of the floes. From a huge distance away, Mark spotted a yellow tint and agreeing that it may be a polar bear the Captain headed towards the location. It was indeed to be our first polar bear. When we neared the bear we realised it was feeding on a recent seal kill. In fact, it was likely the kill had been made as we were approaching the bear. We all went up to the bow with cameras in tow to take pictures of this exciting encounter. We watched as the polar bear carefully peeled back the skin to get to the seal blubber - the bear s favourite delicacy. Mats also pointed out that the birds beside the bear were the rare, and beautiful, ivory gulls. After staying with the bear for quite a long time we watched him slink off the ice into the water with his seal and we headed back inside for dinner. Later that evening, while many of of were still struggling to sleep with the midnight sun, some of the guests spotted a bearded seal relaxing on an ice floe beside the ship. Seals love to bask in the warmth of the sun and we were lucky to have experienced blue skies with the sun beaming down on us day and night so far.

6 DAY 4: KARL XII ISLAND AND STOR ISLAND A day full of sightings 8 JULY 2016 Due to extreme fog rolling in to the pack ice the crew made the executive decision to sail overnight towards Karl XII Øya. Luckily when we arrived there the weather was much more pleasant. There was a large colony of kittiwakes and black guillemots that we could see directly from the ship. This was the first time we came across Eider ducks too. We boarded the Zodiacs to circumnavigate the island and encountered a large male polar bear mountaineering in search of nests to plunder, before settling on an outcrop providing us with a majestic lion king pose. Further round the island we came across a mother with two six-month old cubs!! We spent almost an hour enjoying the behaviour of this family even watching her come down towards the water s edge right by the Zodiac. Our cameras clicked away and the smile on everyone s faces summed up excitement we were all feeling. Continuing our circumnavigation, we disembarked on the other half of the island but didn t stay for long. Days before it had been reported there were seven bears on the island and as we had only seen four today we couldn t be too sure as to where the other three were hiding! We then headed to Storøya meaning Great Island. On our journey there from the Freya we had a huge colony of walrus swimming alongside the Zodiacs. Being down at water level with them was fascinating. Nearer shore we were extremely fortunate to encounter a young male polar bear interacting with a group of walruses on the beach. This is extremely rare and provided unique behaviour for us to watch as the bear tried to suss out the walrus colony and vice versa. He was perhaps attempting to find some sort of weakness or opening, but only seemed perplexed when a larger walrus reared its head. Moving round the island we stopped for another dry landing in search of a variety of bird species. Here we saw Arctic terns (which decided that John, Caron and their lenses were too close for comfort so tried to divebomb their heads and cameras. John made a hasty retreat but never one to miss a photo opportunity Caron continued her photography in the hope of getting that one awesome action shot). Other sightings included the red phalarope, one of the most beautiful Arctic birds and the rare Sabine gull.

7 DAY 5: AUSTFONNA, KAPP MOHN AND BEAR SOUND Awe-inspiring glacial shelf 9 JULY 2016 Overnight we moved down the east coast of Austfonna towards Kapp Mohn, experiencing the first rough seas of the trip. Nobody was at breakfast on time! However, the journey was definitely worth it for the glacial scenery we were greeted with at Vibebukta. The weather cleared, leaving nothing but blue skies, the perfect contrast to the huge ice shelf glacier with numerous waterfalls. We enjoyed another dry landing on the beach followed by a hike onto the glacier for spectacular panoramic views. Drinking from the glacial stream was so refreshing even if it did leave our fingers a little chilly from the water. Once at the top of the glacier Ellen and Jason decided to entertain the group with a little acrobatics ticking off Ellen s upside down image for the day. The majority of the group stayed out for a late one this evening (not getting back to the ship until 1.30am! Although there were not any more close encounters with wildlife to be had; they saw two more polar bears and some Svalbard reindeer at a distance. One of the polar bears was collared and they saw a suckling den and tracks in the snow (both mother and cub) so it was thought she had a cub with her and that was the reason she disappeared behind the ridge. The group then continued north and found a male polar bear walking on the dolomite ridges with beautiful backlit lightings, but that one decided not to cooperate either, he walked over the ridge in search of bird eggs. On the way back to the boat we drove really close to the waterfalls and saw the cracks in the ice, knowing that when it carves it is going to be an incredible sight! After the glacier we headed to Bear Sound at Wilhem Island to see what wildlife we could find after dinner. We saw a lovely bearded seal who was very cooperative allowing us to get close enough for good photography. It was also nice to leave the seal in the same position we found it knowing we hadn t disturbed it.

8 DAY 6: WAHLBERG ISLAND, GYLDEN ISLAND AND HINLOPEN STRAIT Walrus, guillemots, Arctic foxes and polar bear 10 JULY 2016 We had three Zodiac excursions today. The first was to see a large colony of walrus on Wahlberg Island directly outside the ship you could smell them from on board! We teetered around the Arctic tern nests hoping not to get divebombed by the adult birds and then spent a good few hours observing the walrus behaviour as a group. There were many large adult walruses who were unfazed by our presence so the majoriy just lazed on the sand. The second island excursion was Gylden Island. Here we expected to find a lot more ice than there was, so it was a little disappointing to find a lack of wildlife. Instead there were plenty of birds (more Arctic terns and snow buntings). Our evening Zodiac cruise more than made up for the lack of wildlife earlier in the day! We crossed the Hinlopen Strait towards the Brunnich s guillemot cliffs and as soon as we arrived Russ spotted a beluga in the water. It didn t hang around for long so most of us just saw a slightly raised bit of white out of the water but all the same we knew it was there. perused the rocks in search of fallen eggs or chicks. To top it off we then saw a polar bear down by the waterside. The polar bear was on a mission along the water, getting in and out of the ocean when the rocks became impassible. The bear was very cooperative and seemed completely oblivious to our presence. We even got the chance to watch the bear rolling in the ice/snow looking like he was having the time of his life. Unfortunately due to the ship routing we had to leave this beautiful bear and head back on board to allow the Captain some sleep for his onward journey. One really must admire the time and effort that the crew put in during the expedition, ensuring someone is always up on the bridge not only sailing the ship but also on the lookout for wildlife to ensure the best possible wildlife experiences for the guests based on the weather and circumstances. Not only did we find thousands of entertaining birds on the cliff edge but also saw an Arctic fox on the cliff edge. We watched as the fox

9 DAY 7: FJORD OF SORROW AND THE LOVE FJORD Icebergs and rainbows 11 JULY 2016 This morning we were anchored up in Sorgfjorden (Fjord of Sorrows) an old Dutch whaling station where three French man of war ships had arrived and killed a number of Dutch that resided there. There was one cabin still standing on the island and some other remains. No wildlife to be seen but we did find plenty of bones and fur to know that wildlife had been here. It was interesting to learn about Arctic flora and the history of the area. We moved on to the Love Fjord (Liefefjorden) which was much more spectacular in terms of scenery - I guess the clue is in the name. We boarded the Zodiacs and travelled through stunning icebergs towards the Monaco Glacier. Seeing the reflections in the water was just beautiful and our experience here was finished off with a triple rainbow (one entirely full) across the sky, framing the Freya perfectly. We were all very happy with the rainbow images we had captured which would give us all nice reminders of our time aboard this lovely little ship.

10 DAY 8: RAUDFJORDEN AND MAGDALENAFJORD A day of bird cliffs 12 JULY 2016 We travelled overnight to Raudfjorden where we took the Zodiacs out at 8:30am towards some more bird cliffs. We were lucky enough to spot a number of Arctic foxes too, including a blue fox. The blue fox had a bird in its mouth but as it moved so quickly across the rocks it was difficult to capture sharp images. After lunch and another journey we arrived at Magdalena Fjorden to climb up into a little auk colony. Not sure health and safety would approve of the climb but it was really amazing to sit among the rocks and have hundreds of birds flying overhead and landing nearby.

11 DAY 9: PRINS KARL FORLAND Birds, Arctic fox and harbour seal 13 JULY 2016 Quite a long journey overnight so most of us enjoyed an early night. We woke to wall to wall grey skies (the first one for us) so that was a shame. But when you ve had as many sunny days as us I guess it s only fair. They seem so awkward on land and even the smallest movement is so much effort, yet when they slip into the water they are much more elegant! Another hike today, fairly strenuous, up into another bird cliff. This one was home to a mix of kittiwakes and Brunnich s guillemots. We were able to sit really close to the edge of the bird cliffs and witness more amusing behaviour. On the way back down we spotted a couple of Svalbard reindeer who were fairly unfazed by our presence. John had also seen another fox further along the coast so we got back into the Zodiacs to go and watch. We stayed with the fox for quite a while and even though it was quite far away it was still good to watch it roam back and forth along the cliffs. We thought it might go for some of the birds but it didn t seem too bothered and just scavenged instead. Back onto the ship for lunch followed by looking for bears, but to no avail. Instead we sailed further on Prins Karls Forland and headed out on the Zodiacs to spend time with some harbour seals.

12 DAY 10: ALKHORNET AND TRYGGHAMNA Last day in the Arctic 14 JULY 2016 For our final day in the Arctic we headed on land to have a nice long walk to see what we could find. The first wildlife sighting was a joy: plenty of Svalbard reindeer milling around, nibbling on the grasses and flowers provided for them during the Arctic summer. After spending time with the reindeer we moved on in search of Arctic fox. Our luck was in! We spotted what we assumed was a female fox roaming around the rocks. She was very cooperative and allowed us to capture a number of photographs as she walked back and forth. At one stage, Mark saw some fox cubs hiding in the shelter of rocks, but they didn t feel brave enough to come out and play for the rest of us to see. To end the expedition we travelled on through swan and zebra-shaped icebergs towards the Wahlenberg Glacier. As we were taking our final groups shots we kept our eyes and ears peeled for the glacier calving behind us. As is tradition on board a ship, the final night all together is celebrated with the Captain s dinner and we dug in to yet more delicious cuisine courtesy of Peder. The Captain and crew said their thank you s and we all reminisced about the wonderful wildlife sightings we had experienced throughout the trip.

13 DAY 11: DISEMBARK SHIP AND DEPART LONGYEARBYEN Saying goodbye 15 JULY 2016 Everyone woke on the final morning of the trip, aboard the ship which had become their Arctic home for the past 10 days. After breakfast everyone said their goodbyes to fellow passengers and crew before gathering up luggage and heading to the airport for their flights home. What an incredible Arctic experience had by all!

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