Page 61 - 2003 SVALBARD, NORWAY

The Arctic seascape is dramatic, beautiful, austere, and pitiless

and compelling all at the same time!

Ralph announced that the naturalists were not thrilled with the
type of ice we were cruising through and had asked the captain to

switch course and tactics of polar bear hunting yet again. So now
we are trying to go back north towards Nordaustlandet to find
more “productive ice” where more polar bears may be spotted. So

far the Arctic has been stingy to us--we have seen only 7 bears on
the entire trip, widely spaced and very far from the ship. Some

cruises see many more animals and much closer up. So now we
are waiting to get to the new area and hoping for more luck in

pursuing the ice bears. Supper has been moved up to 7:30 PM and
everyone has been encouraged to help the naturalists spot for

polar bears as we continue to move to the northwest again.

KAPP FREEDEN

Awoke to glorious sunshine this morning after a polar bearless

night. But we all felt renewed & optimistic with the blue skies and
sun-spilashed mountains and ice. So, right after breakfast, Ralph

got us all ready for a shore excursion, again with the long walker,
medium walker and short walker designations. The site was

perfect for a smooth landing and we (medium walkers) headed off
with Magnus. The first thing we saw that moved was two reindeer

high up a slope near a snowfall patch. Without binoculars they
were just two small dots, but with these wonderful Canon binos,
we could see them quite well.