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  Tuesday 23rd of June 2015 and I was in my cabin looking at pictures I had taken during the Zodiac safari in Hamilton Bay when the PA system came on. I could hardly hear the message as I had my  music on full blast. Yeah, my cabin is better known as the “FUNKY CORNER” on the ship. I had to turn off the music to hear the message. One of the passengers had spotted a Polar Bear swimming across Raudfjorden. I grabbed my Canon and I ran up on the saloon deck. Saloon deck was full and the fo'c's'le was full of passengers looking at the Polar Bear. He was quite far away as we didn't wanted to disturb him. Always respect the wildlife. The Polar Bear was swimming across  Raudfjorden. And we could not believe our luck two Polar Bears in one day.
Well, some of the passengers had seen three as there were two Polar Bears to start with this very morning in the Hamilton Bay. Plans ere quickly changed. We decided to launch our Zodiacs to see  where the Polar Bear was going. Yes, this promised to be exciting.
Then we would cross Raudfjorden and do the “wet” landing where the Polar Bear had came from. I ran down in my cabin and I donned my new  boots and jeans. My coat and the life jacket that I keep in my cabin.
I had a wee bit different approach with the Zodiacs now than I had have this morning. Our morning tour and I wanted to be in the boat with the least numbers of passengers. Now I wanted to get away as quick as possible to get a chance for some close ups of the Polar Bear. So as soon as I had donned my “Polar explorer” kit  I ran down to the bridge to the Zodiacs. There were 2 guys already. They prepared the boats and we were soon on our way towards the Polar bear that was ashore on the other side by now.
We got directions to the Polar Bear from the ship and we got a report that the Polar Bear was trying to climb up on a rock. He then got up on a small island clear from snow and it looked like he was looking for food. We were of course approaching slowly not to annoy the Polar Bear. And this Polar Bear was full of action, what a difference from the sleeping pill earlier this morning.  Rolling around in the snow
           The Polar Bear is leaving the island
 The Polar Bear is leaving the island
 The Polar Bear is leaving the island
 The Polar Bear reaching the main land
 The Polar Bear reaching the main land
         The Polar Bear sniffing something in the air
     By now we know that he have caught the smell of a seal
Will we experience a Polar Bear attacking a seal?  Beautiful, walking in front of a glacier
 A Bearded seal - This is what our Polar Bear is going for
 We're waiting for the Polar Bear to attack his dinner
 We're up in the ice to prevent the wind from blowing us out of position
 We can also use a anchor
 We can also use a anchor
 We have dropped our anchor
 The Polar Bear is sneaking up on the Bearded Seal
 The Polar Bear is suddenly charging
 The seal gets away
What a day! We could actually follow a Polar Bear from, ALL THE WAY from getting a sniff of the Bearded seal until the attack. Actually we had followed him long before he got a sniff of the Bearded seal. The Polar Bear can smell a seal from 1 km or so. A must when hunting on the ice. Our Guide had seen the Bearded seal when we passed with m/s Quest so she knew there was a seal in front of the glacier behind the ridge. The seal was just laying on the ice next to the breathing  hole in the ice.
So we were waiting behind the ridge and we had drove up the boats in the ice to prevent the wind from blowing us away. Yeah, we had even dropped our anchor on the ice. It was kind of a long wait and we could see the Polar Bear sneaking towards the seal. Suddenly, BAM, he was charging towards the seal and the seal disappeared down the breathing hole in the ice. Dinner was gone, but we had got 2 hours of entertainment out of it. The Polar Bear was quite small, so he was young and unexperienced. I think he started to run  towards the Bearded seal too early for his own good. OK, this was a fantastic experience.
We left the Polar Bear and we crossed Raudfjorden to make our landing on the other side. I asked what we were expecting to see on the other side and the Guide told me that we could expect a nice view. I must have been looking disappointed - But I'm the Guide for the group with then slowest of the slow We could join her group and we would most likely be on a Zodiac cruise and go back to look for the Polar Bear and other animals. A she said: - I think there is a lot of people that can't walk in this group. Of course, I joined the slow group with 5 others. The super speed group was soon on the top of a hill and there were 3 other groups with different abilities and they all moved up the mountain. We stayed on the beach and we walked 50 meters until we reached the cliffs. I spotted a plastic drum and we put it on the beach so we could bring it back with us when we're leaving. All the Guides were carrying riffles as we can encounter Polar Bears anytime.    We secure the Zodiacs with the anchors
 We secure the Zodiacs with the anchors
   m/s Quest waiting for us on Raudfjorden
 The other groups take off up the mountain
 The glacier have formed rocks looking like concrete
 The glacier have formed rocks looking like concrete
 The glacier have formed rocks looking like concrete
   We spend 30 minutes or so on the beach. The rest of the groups were half way up the mountain. Well, the second slowest group had just come, well, not much longer than us but they had moved in  the direction up the mountain instead of along the beach. The super fast group was almost on the top.
Never mind, I just wanted to go on a “safari” to see animals and I was happy when we left the beach in direction where we had last spotted the Polar Bear. It was me and a couple from Switzerland and a guy from USA. And I think the other couple were from Germany. We were soon across Raudfjorden and we were back at the same place in front of the glacier where the Polar Bear had foocked up getting his dinner. There were no sign off any Bearded seal  or the Polar Bear and we were looking around for a while.
There were some big birds on the ice when we arrived and they were soon flying away and I managed to get a picture of the taking off with the bluish glacier in the back. Svalbard is really beautiful and I can really recommend a visit. The glaciers are really impressive, but for how many more years? They  are shrinking rapidly.
No sign of any Polar Bear and we left the place after a while and we were steering along the coast line following Raudfjorden. Suddenly we could see the Polar Bear walking across a glacier. And this might be the best picture I got of the Polar Bear. You need something on the  glaciers to really see how big they are. Otherwise they just look like the hills I used for skiing when I was a baby. But with the Zodiac in front of them, or like now, a beautiful Polar Bear walking across and you can really see how big they are.
   The last we see of the Polar Bear today
This might be my favourite picture as you really get a feeling on how big everything is around here.
We were back on board just in time for the evening meeting before the dinner. We were soon on our way again and at the meeting they told us that we would arrive to the Moffin Island, well known for all the Walruses. But as Moffin Island is a Nature Reserve we're not allowed to come  closer than 300 meter, or to launch any Zodiacs.
I was in my cabin when they started to call on the PA. We were passing a Fin Whale and I brought my camera and I went to the saloon deck. I never managed to get any pictures. But it looked very  nice when the whale was spraying water with the ice covered Svalbard in the back.
It was around 22 thirty when we arrived to Moffin Island, and the Walruses were too far away to get any good pictures. I hope we can see Walruses at some place where we can come closer with the Zodiacs because this I don't count as having seen a Walrus. I did not even mark the Walrus in my art list. But, well, it was not bad, but they were too far away to really enjoy  Walruses
 Walruses
From Moffin Island it is not far away to the permanent ice edge where we will go tomorrow to look for Polar Bears. We can actually see the ice from Moffin Island, and we could also see two other cruise ships. So our tour leader talked with the tour leaders on the other ships and we changed plans. They try to schedule the trips so there is only one ship at each place when visiting to give the feeling of being alone. So we cancelled the ice tomorrow and we will go down Hinlopen Strait instead. And wen the other ships go down Hinlopen Strait we will go to the ice. Well, so it will be Hinlopen Strait tomorrow and you just need to click HERE to find yourself right in the middle of the excitement. And I'm pretty sure it will be an amazing adventure tomorrow as well. So hang on!
    
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To www.aladdin.st since December 2005
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