Page 59 - 2003 SVALBARD, NORWAY

because his territory of the moment was so white, he stood out

very well. However, he was not interested in being the object of all
that staring from so many eyes and soon disappeared for good.

Polar bear watch was declared officially over for that session.

So we began to study the many ice formations in front of us and

found that they are truly protean in their variety. We saw flat floes
covered with white “hotels and houses,” their shapes recalling the

game of Monopoly, scattered all over the “board.”

There were double-decker bergie bits with thin flat discs floating
nd
over their submerged 2 story which glowed vivid blues from
beneath the shallow water. There were bowls of whipped cream,

smoothed into mounds and hills of ice, looking absolutely edible.
There were lacy filigree patterns floating along beside the boat.

Some pieces looked like tiny Alpine scenes with sharp peaks above