Let's get comfy

We had sailed overnight through the straits of Sundneset which had, until now, been blocked by sea ice. The safe sailing area is only a few kilometres wide and apparently worth seeing. The events of yesterday obviously precluded sailing during waking hours. No-one would have forgiven the crew if we had been wrenched away from yesterday's bearish excesses. So, we carried on to Dolerittneset on Edgeoya to see an haulout of walruses. This time the landing was successful.
The walruses all seem to want to get as close to each other as possible and sleep. There was much grunting and scratching out of moulting fur, but there is a limit on how many ways you can inventively photograph a walrus when you are not allowed near it.
We then went for a short walk looking at the tundra flora, but were warned back to the ship when a polar bear was sighted about 0.5km away. They are dangerous and the staff carry rifles. However, they are only to be used in extremis, and if a bear should have to be killed, there are vast amounts of paperwork initiated and an Inquiry in to the incident. So it's best for all concerned that each avoids the other.
We were now so far behind schedule, that the ship pressed on with an 18 hour sail to our next visit. The highlight of the evening was the filling of the plunge pool with Arctic sea water. The first in was a tiny 83 year old Australian lady followed by a number of bullish males. Er, not my cup of tea!

If you want to see more photos of this amazing trip go to
http://gallery.me.com/lizziebea#100161