“On Top of the World”

June 1, 2023

My friend Jim Fennessy picked me up at my home and we drove together to the Newark airport. There we met up with Donna Bourdon, Beverly Still, Kitty Kono and Kristen Eder as we are on the same flight. After spending some time together in the lounge, I sat down with Donna and Bev and had a really nice arugula salad for dinner.

Our long awaited adventure was really starting to happen! Our first flight will take 7 hours to get from the the East Coast to Oslo. From there we have another flight to Longyearbyen. I’ve heard a lot of different stories from others that have been to Svalbard recently. Some had great polar bear sightings and others didn’t. You just never know when you head out to photograph wildlife. Part of the fun is the journey, being out in nature, the time spent with friends, exploring new places, and just being open to whatever comes your way.

June 3, The day before our trip…

The town of Longyearbyen is not exactly as I pictured it. It’s more than what I thought it would be. There are several shops, and restaurants. I found a great little cafe with fresh sandwiches, goodies and cappuccino. The town has a trendy vibe to it and I enjoyed exploring the area a bit. I wouldn’t call it a destination but it far exceeds the secluded, tired, town that I thought it was.

Tomorrow our scheduled trip starts as we board our ship and head out on our Polar Bear adventure, I can’t wait. But today our group decided to do a 7 hour boat tour for wildlife and glaciers. I’d rate the tour a 5 on a scale of 1-10.

The boat was nice, it wasn’t too crowded, the crew was knowledgeable, kind and offered a lot of information through their slide program throughout the trip. Our ticket price of $240pp was to include lunch, but it should have said it included a bowl of soup, no bread, no salad. The soup was tasty but it wasn’t chunky and it wasn’t filling. I left the boat starving.

Our wildlife sightings were 2 walruses basking in the sun on the shoreline, a couple of minke whales ( the most numerous of the rorqual whales in Norwegian waters), a handful of reindeer and assorted birds. Most of which were not good photo opps. The glacier was nice but we didn’t get too close to it because there was a sheet of ice in front of it. I did learn a lot about the geology of the area and I found that interesting. Still, a ho-hum tour that I would not do again. Sorry Kitty, I know you really liked it .

June 4

We boarded our ship and set sail on a hot pursuit for polar bears. Everyone on the trip was anxious to see a polar bear. Our hot pursuit soon became a warm pursuit after scouring many fjords and channels.

June 5 -6

So far we’ve spent our time on the boat bird-watching and capturing landscapes. No sign of any bears. Still the group remains optimistic.

We’ve had internet service off and on. I didn’t expect to have any service so this is a bonus.

June 7

Our guides spotted a walrus haul out with about 30 or so male walrus on the shore. We did a zodiac landing and got to a respectable distance on foot. There was one walrus in the water and he seemed a bit curious and decided to come check us out. Then another followed him. They got to about 6 feet from us at times, yet both remained doscile and curious.

Our group had a front row seat to watch as these two interacted with each other all while checking to see if we were still watching. They seemed so sweet and innocent but I know if they felt threatened they would use their large tusks and weight against us. But that was not the case. Soon a third one joined them as they played together and bathed in a very calm and peaceful manner. It was a wildlife encounter that I won’t soon forget.

The meals onboard have all been delicious. Chef prepares homemade loaves of bread daily along with freshly baked cookies. A variety of traditional Swedish fare as well as some vegetarian dishes rounded out most meals. Each cabin has a private bathroom so there haven’t been any issues with guests waiting for the toilets or showers. Speaking of showers, they are excellent as ship showers go, plenty of hot flowing water! My room has a desk and chair but I haven’t been able to use it since sitting below deck often gets me queasy. I’m happy to report we’ve had calm seas so I haven’t needed a seasickness patch.

June 8

Still no polar bear sightings but we have seen a few arctic fox and polar bear tracks, the polar bear prints are enormous. So at least we know they are in the area— we just haven’t seen them. The mood onboard remains positive with a semi-sad overtone. However, we are all experienced wildlife photographers and understand that patience, perseverance and luck will decide our fate. And we all came on the trip knowing that we may not even see one bear — yet we hope.

Sony a1 and Sony 200-600mm lens using the in-camera ASPC crop.

June 8- Update

After writing above about the morning, our luck changed in the late afternoon as we found ourselves following a young female bear. She was strolling along the hillside near the coast. We continued to photograph her from the boat until we lost sight of her as she made her way to a small abandoned mining village known as Pyramiden.

We were a fair distance from her and our images were dots in the frame but still it was a polar bear and we did get to photograph her as she stopped to roll in the snow. Her coat was almost pristine white with some cream tones. She was a beautiful, beautiful bear and I only wished that we were able to get closer.

Our ship anchored a few hours after that encounter, in hopes that the bear would come to the fast ice to feed in the morning. Fast ice is sea ice that is "fastened" to the coastline. Fingers crossed we see her again.

June 9

So far we’ve had no luck finding the bear again after our last encounter. We spent almost 16 hours waiting for her to come to the fast ice. It was a test of patience and our group passed with flying colors. Hopefully we will be rewarded by morning with another sighting. There is a 24 hour polar bear watch from the bridge at night.

June 10

The morning came and still no sign of our bear or any other bears. I’m still hopeful that the day becomes epic. Time will tell and it is not on our side at this point. Still we remain hopeful.

June 11

It’s about 4pm now and still no sign of a polar bear. We will do a bit of back tracking to the fast ice in hopes of spotting a bear. We only have the boat for about 15 more hours… it’s beginning to look grim for us as we search each fjord.

June 12

We never did see any other polar bears on the trip. Still, I am grateful that I had the opportunity to travel to a remote part of the world that many will never see. At one point we were at 79.57 degrees north, just short of 80. That in itself, is pretty remarkable, especially when you take the time to really think about where you are on the globe.

Safe travels home to all my shipmates that shared this special journey with me. We had a lot of fun times together and we laughed, oh how we laughed!