Page 57 - 2003 SVALBARD, NORWAY

the Lounge. Even though she did not hear much of the lecture,

she was able to get the answers to some questions we had posed
earlier about polar bear, seal & walrus sleep and about their need

for fresh water.

Where do Polar Bears and Walrus get fresh water to drink?

The fresh water question was the easier of the two. None of them
requirement fresh water in their diets because they create it in
their own fat and then can metabolize it as the fat is burned for

energy. So when any of these creatures is observed licking or
chewing on ice, it probably is just curiosity or the animal may be

starving so that there is insufficient fat in its body. The sleep
question had a two-fold answer: Polar bears and to a lesser extent

walrus do indeed sleep and for fairly lengthy periods of time. Both
creatures are at the top of the food chain and do not need to

exercise the constant vigilance of smaller prey animals. Therefore,
polar bears often sleep after eating right next to their kill up to
hours at a time. Walrus often sleep in their “huddles’’ when there

are no young among them. Even the walrus is wary when calves
are present. The seals, on the other hand, must always sleep with

one eye open since they are quite vulnerable to the bears and
walrus. They usually doze no more than a couple of minutes at a

time.

After our midday “optional” feeding time (Ralph’s little joke), we
were told that we were cruising in more open waters between
Berentsoya and the island group of Kong Karls Land, looking for

clearer visibility and for ice bears. We went in and out of fog but
saw some phantasmal ice floes, bergie bits, and sea ice. We visited

the bridge to learn a little about navigation and how the
equipment works. We visited the Gift Shop and got a couple of

souvenirs.