Hinlopen Strait
In the continuous daylight of the high Arctic summer, day and night have no real meaning and one day blends into another. After an evening of watching polar bears on the ice we awoke off the ice cap of Austfonna. An ice cliff over 100 miles long marks the edge of the ice cap, and off this edge pour waterfalls of summer snow and ice melt.
Upon leaving the ice cap we encountered a young polar bear in the sea ice. This bear allowed a prolonged and close encounter that will prove to be one of the highlights of the season. It was initially observed scavenging on a kill with attendant glaucous and ivory gulls. After awhile it became curious towards the ship and made a close approach, settling down near the vessel to clean after feeding.
In the afternoon the wind increased, thus decreasing the likelihood of being able to disembark and explore onshore or by Zodiac. But this did not leave us without options. A cruise by the ship of the seabird cliffs of Cape Fanshawe allowed excellent views of this vast seabird city, home to over 100,000 pairs of seabirds, mainly Brunnich’s guillemots.
Later, a similar cruise of Moffen Island provided good looks at a haul out of walrus and the some fly by views of the rarely encountered Sabine’s gull.
