Day 8: Virgohamna to Krossfjorden

Despite Rupert’s promises, the weather was again not on our side. We left Virgohamna early and happily sailed along the now free of ice and calmer Smeerenburgfjorden. The conditions were great, as was the visibility. Once again despite our best efforts we only observed bear tracks, no animals. We reached Magdalenefjorden just before lunch. Rupert took us to see the little auks colony on the north side of the fjord. Thousands of them were flying around us! It was truly amazing. In the late afternoon we resumed sailing southwards, and Rupert made the most of this time to give us a great lecture on bears. Once the evening came, Rupert was all apologised as the blue sky was proudly standing over Krossfjorden. What a sight! A minke whale greeted us as we were entering the fjord, but still no narwhals… The view was absolutely stunning and seeing the sun brought the mood up and nobody wanted to go to sleep! We anchored in the little bay of Signehamna, in front of the magnificent glacier of LillieHookBreen.

Day 7: Hamiltonbukta to Virgohamna.

In the morning we carried on our exploration of the fjord, but this time onboard the Polaris. The fjord was three quarters full of ice, and the conditions could not have been more ideal for bears. We could see lots of seals lying on the ice floes, but despite an intense watch with the binos, no bears were seen in the vicinity. We carried on our search to the entrance to Smeerenburgfjorden and it didn’t take long before our great birder Steven spotted a bear! The animal was standing on a snowy promontory along the shore, making it particularly tricky to see. 5 minutes later we were already out in the zodiacs. The bear was already lying on the snow, ready for a good sleep. We approached with the engines cut off, paddles in hands. The animal was very relaxed and we did not disturb it from its nap. Rupert identified it as a young male, maybe 4 or 5 years old. To our surprise, a large walrus came close to us, and immediately the bear spotted it and changed position to keep an eye on it. We went back out again after lunch, but this time the bear was restless. It quickly woke up from its semi-nap and started walking along the shore. We tried to follow it with a distance, but it was effortlessly walking as fast as our zodiacs in the water! It then went into the water and aimed for the fast ice. Quickly it stood up on the ice and we decided to give it some rest. What a sight!
Smeerenburgfjorden seemed more sailable but there was still a lot of ice in the fjord. We spotted another large walrus on an ice flow. As we were sailing South the sea became much rougher. But such unpleasant conditions did not prevent our dear Rick from giving a lecture on his work as a BBC cameraman. The conditions became so bad that the captain decided to make a U-turn and to anchor again in Virgohamna.

Day 5: Virgohamna to Utranorskoya

The blizzard had weakened, but the wind was still very much present. We sailed along the former settlement of Smeerenburg and our best polar bear spotter Laura quickly found another animal! This time the bear was on the ice eating a fresh kill. Breathtaking! Unfortunately we were not the only ones watching the majestic animal, another boat got there before us! The male was of a good size, looking fat and fit! To leave the priority to the other boat, we decided to set anchor on the other side of the fjord and wait until the large ship goes away. We sailed back to the bear after lunch and it had drifted quite a lot with the fast ice. We could observed it really well from the deck, and the bear finished his meal right before our eyes. After such a nice dinner it left the carcass on the ice and went for a nice session of rolling and sliding on the snow.  Once our dear friend asleep our trip North resumed. On the way, one of our passengers had to be evacuated by helicopter. We all wish her well, and will definitely miss her and her husband deeply. Late in the afternoon we got blocked by the fast ice, and we decided to set anchor for the night in the shelter of Fair Haven and the island of Utranorskoya in the corner of North Western Svalbard. The place was famous among whalers for its calm waters and shelter from strong winds. Just what we need!

Day 4: Danskoya

Early after breakfast, Rupert, Jordan and Heidi took a zodiac out to check if there were any walruses in the well-known haul out closeby in Gullybukta. Only one poor walrus was there on the beach, and we agreed that it was not worth taking everybody there. Arthur then started sailing towards Smeerenburgfjorden (the fjord of “Greasy town”). Smeerenburgfjorden was full of large ice floes and was a good indication of what the conditions would be for the following days.
Just as we were getting worried about the sailing conditions Laura spotted the first polar bear, climbing in the hills close to shore. We immediately took two zodiacs out as got closer to the shore. This first sighting made us forget about the unpleasant weather conditions: horizontal snow, wind, waves… The bear was obviously interested in the bird nests on the cliff, and kept climbing up and down and around the hill. After a couple of hours of observation we went back to the boat for lunch and enjoyed yet another of Hervé’s delicious soups. We then headed towards Virgohamna, today desolated beach but once world-famous when the Swedish ballooner Salomon André set off to fly over the North Pole in 1897. The weather went from bad to worse, and we decided to stay in the comfort and the shelter of the boat during the blizzard, and enjoyed Heidi’s lecture on the History of Svalbard.