Day 9 - Polar bears

We woke to quite a swell and 25mph wind.
However the sun came out as we neared Svalbard. We were still at sea in the morning. We had a talk on history of Svalbard which means cold front. (We were told no cars were allowed in Longyearbyen because of bird life but we saw plenty when we got there).

It was exciting when it was announced we had got within 10 degrees of the North Pole. The temperature was as high as 10 degrees.

Then we watched a film about climate change and the affect on glaciers in Alaska, Greenland and Iceland.

Later we reached Himlopen Straight which divides Spitsbergen from the most northerly island of Nordlauslandet where we got into zodiacs for a walk. We got great views of the sun on a glacier but the fog came in so we had to dash back. We were with Adrian the birdman with the gun - serious talk about bears again.

Soon after we got back on board we had to rush on deck as a bear was spotted on an island. The ship gradually manoeuvred and got closer to it. We watched it for ages. It was a female according to how it peed!

Then just as we were finishing dinner we were called out again to see stunning cliffs with gannets where a bear had been spotted. It was climbing a steep bit of scree and was eating a dead bird. I don’t know how it managed to get up and down the scree as the cliffs looked perpendicular. It really was the icing on the cake to see the bears.