Polar Bear meets Reindeer
Yesterday (10/6) I opened the curtains to see a long wall of ice stretching as far as my windows would allow. It was the Austfonna icecap, the largest icecap on Nordaustlandet island. It runs for more than 100 kms and has a maximum thickness of 600-700m (above and below the surface of the water).
It reminded me of the Ross Ice Shelf in the Antarctic, although not nearly as high. Unlike that ice-tongue that pushes out into the sea and floats, the icecaps in Svalbard are “grounded,” sitting on the land beneath the sea, and pushing out slowly, grinding out dirt and rock as they edge forwards, with icebergs breaking off and floating off with the currents.
After breakfast we explored the icy wall from the ship for about an hour or so, and once we found a suitable place, it was time to see what we could find from the zodiacs on and around the ice.
Seeing these natural structures from water level provides a different perspective to that from the ship. The horizontal layers of compressed snow are more visible, as is the faceted front surface. Colours ranged from whites and greys to varying depths of blues.
Moving away from the ice wall, we followed the edge of some sea-ice, the currents strong and the sea a little choppy, but nothing nasty. Icebergs were floating in every direction – weird shapes carved by the wind and waves, and many showing dirt and rocks, the signs of their origins in the icecap.
Then we heard those wonderful two words, “Polar bear,” on the radio. The Captain had spotted one in the water, swimming towards the sea-ice that was on our right. A quick U-turn and we saw it climbing from the sea onto the ice, several hundred meters away.
Radios squawked quietly as Annie gave instructions on how we were to approach it, giving passengers visibility and opportunities to photograph, while ensuring the Polar bear was not threatened by the 12 zodiacs in the water, covered in yellow-jacketed people – aka Polar bear snacks 😉.
The choppy sea and distance made it difficult to get sharp images without yellow arms and black hats – but I managed some when the Zodiac dipped on the starboard side & rose on the portside where I was sitting. He was a beautiful animal, and not disturbed by our presence – he even rolled on the ice several times, squishing the water out to dry his fur, and pointing his 4 legs in different directions, the black underside of his paws clearly visible.
Then it was back to the ship and onwards our eastern heading. It had been a cold day, but I was in and out of the starboard and port decks, up one level from my cabin – lots of stairs being trod each day! Various other possible sightings of Polar bears did not eventuate, but we saw glorious scenery as we sailed through this fjord.
Today, 11/6, we woke in Freemansundet, a 35 km long fjord that is relatively narrow. Ice can block it – good and bad for us. Good because of the potential for sighting bears and walrus, and bad because we can’t proceed.
Up on the Bridge at about 6:45am, Jonathan, the Exec Officer, told me that we were pointing into the 3 knot current that brings the ice into the fjord, but were stationary relative to the land. It makes for easy manoeuvring if ice comes around us – this would not be manageable if we were anchored.
We could see reindeer on the land on one side, but no other mammals around. As we ate breakfast, the ship slowly started to traverse the fjord, and before long I was out on the stern deck. This is one of my favourite places when we’re underway – it’s often sheltered from the cold Arctic wind, birds fly close to the ship. In fact I watched a Black-legged Kittiwake dive into the sea next to some ice, the water so clear that I could see it under the surface. It popped up and flew off with a small fish in its mouth – sublime!
At about 10am we were slowing a s we passed a rather glorious “surging” glacier. Slowing down is a sure sign that someone had spotted something of interest, and although Mike, our glaciologist, had told us about the glacier, there was no mention of stopping to view it.
I looked to starboard and saw a Polar bear standing behind some ice on the shore, its head down, as if it was eating something.
The zodiacs were launched, and within about 30 minutes, I’d changed into my warm, weatherproof gear, donned the lifejacket and my backpack with camera, and we were on the water, following the bear, probably a female.
By now she was walking purposefully away from us towards the glacier. Passing it, she stopped suddenly on some snow and lay down to sleep, behaviour consistent with having eaten a good meal. We were down-wind and moved slowly closer – she was still a long way off, but visible without binoculars or a telephoto lens.
We stopped at some sea-ice, the bows of the zodiacs driven up onto the ice so that motors could be turned off and we were not drifting. We saw four reindeer walking from some dirt to the left of the glacier, the direction the bear had come from. They were intending to cross the glacier on the ice to get to the side to our right, where there were options for food. But they had to cross in front of the Polar bear. This could get interesting.
Although Polar bears are the apex predator in the Arctic, they typically won’t chase reindeer – the reindeer can run faster over longer distances, and the antlers are a deterrent – the male reindeer had a full set. And of course, this Polar bear was asleep.
As they re-grouped to cross the ice, the male reindeer sent one of the females into the lead for a short distance. They continued in a line unperturbed by the Polar bear. The bear suddenly sat up, staring at them. There was a collective gasp in the zodiacs!
Then unexpectedly, the bear turned and started to stride up the side of the glacier, away from the reindeer. She was walking up a steep slope towards an overhang, ducking into a shelf below the overhang, trying to settle there. I whispered “don’t stay there. You’ll be squashed if it falls.”
Once the reindeer had moved away, she came out, walking and sliding back down the slope, stopping well short of her earlier sleeping spot. She started digging and nosing around in the snow – there are certainly no seals up that high – perhaps a fox’s den?
We watched as she dug, and then rose up on her hind legs, punching down on the snow with her front legs, hoping to crash through the roof of the den.
She did this a few times before giving up and striding up the glacier once more, until she was just a speck. All amazing behaviour to watch and photograph [the photos are taken from a long way away, and heavily cropped].
After 2 hours out in the cold Arctic day, it was time to return to the ship for a hot cuppa and some lunch.
This afternoon some passengers are out walking amongst huts in another part of the fjord. I was still warming up from this morning and chose to stay inside to process photos and write about the activities of the last two days. Now we are now surrounded by some sea-ice, so it’s time to go out and see what’s on offer, photography-wise.
Update on the mother Polar bear and her two cubs from Saturday evening (10/6). It apparently stayed still for many hours overnight, waiting for the seal to come up through its airhole. By the time I was on the Bridge at around 6:30am, we were underway and I couldn’t check. However I was assured by the crew that she had not managed to catch the seal – the cubs were last seen playing around on the ice, and as a good mother, she would find food for them somewhere on the ice.