SVALBARD A 21 DAYS POLAR BEAR SPECIAL JULY 4 - 24, 2019 ON BOARD M/S MALMÖ TOUR REPORT PARTICIPANTS

Guests: Crew: Guides & Charterers: Bill Wirt Johannes Malmlund, captain Morten Jørgensen, guide & charterer Derek Holwill Lars Palm, chief officer Nozomi Takeyabu, guide & charterer Duncan Muir Johan Uddebrant, chief engineer Rinie van Meurs, expedition leader Graham Boulnois Christian Cocozza, chef Isa Jauss Jonathan Persson, AB Jenny Varley Karl Jonsson, AB JoAnne Simerson Lisa Rundberg, stewardess Richard Barrett Björn Arnemo, steward Rita Fryer Tolitha Lewis SUMMARY

This 2019 marathon NozoMojo polar bears on ice odyssey, the second we have undertaken, was in many ways very different from our 2017 20-night voyage.

The vessel was the same, and three of the guests too, but ev- erything else was different... The ice this year was relentless in its grip of the east, caus- ing us to spend just under half our time north of Spits- bergen and Nordaustlandet, only as far east as Sjuøyane (The Seven Islands), and more than half of our time in Hinlopenstretet and immediate surrounds. We had an outstanding amount of calm weather, which interchange- ably came with fog or with very clear conditions and ex- cellent visibility. As can be read below, our polar bear count was not too bad at all, with a few really excellent sighting and several intriguing repeat sightings of the same bears, sometimes in different locations. Our best bear sightings were on remnant fast ice or on land. The northern pack-ice mostly held old males. We noticed a lack of female bears with COYs and a strong overweight of male (usually disinterested) bears. We had a pletho- ra of opportunities to enjoy other species, such as most of the common seal species (albeit with harp seal nota- bly almost missing), and we had interesting and unusual sightings of several others, including narwhal, hooded seal and northern gannet. Our bird species count of 19 for this voyage is very moderate, but what with the en- tire focus being on finding bears perhaps not surprising. Registering a total of 14 mammal species is however not bad at all. A third special purpose 20-night voyage is al- ready in the making.

Ice chart at the beginning of the voyage DIARY WITH ITINERARY AND WEATHER JULY 4:

Longyearbyen - Isfjorden - N to the NW corner of Spitsbergen Sunny, light winds from variable directions, 10°C/50°F, clear.

Almost everyone was collected from various hotels in town by a maxi taxi with trailer and delivered to the M/S Malmö at 4.00 pm. Jenny, Graham and Richard arrived on foot. By approximately 5.00 pm, we were under way, and we gathered to have a brief introduction to the crew, after which we had a safety briefing and drill by Lars. We were then going to meet again, but two blows from an elusive blue whale delayed things. Just before dinner time we got the staff introductions done, and Rinie described the trip plans so far by saying only a few key words – we are going north to the ice!

Dinner was delayed by some 40 minutes by wine ordering, and was then also continued well into the late hours of the evening by much talking. There are tremendous anticipations and very high spirits on board.

The weather today was delightful, sunny and warm, mild and clear. What a promising beginning! July 5:

Smeerenburg & Virgohamna - N to the ice edge and W for a few hours, then E Morning sunny with scattered cloud, afternoon gradually more veiled over; f2-3 N easing to no wind, later up to f4 ENE but easing again evening to almost still from N, 6-10°C/43-50°F, clear.

Before, during and after breakfast, we were sur- rounded by superb views of all the mountain peaks of the NW corner of Spitsbergen. We were in Smeerenburgfjorden, and came to an- chor just off Amsterdamøya. We were briefed by Rinie and Morten after breakfast, and then got ourselves ready for the first Zodiac excur- sion. We first landed at Smeerenburg, where we idled up to the 20+ mostly sleeping most- ly adult male walruses. While they did nothing much, the morning was never-the-less wonder- ful in these pleasant conditions. Blubber oven foundation remains, driftwood, lots to look at on the ground, and magnificent mountain and glacier views all around. Eventually, we got into the boats again and headed over to a little cove on the N coast of Danskøya, where at first 11 and ultimately 16 harbour / common seals were relaxing. We spent almost an hour and a half with them, and enjoyed not least observing the close bond between two females with their very, very young pups. It was still, calm, quiet – a unique moment in the high Arctic.

Before coming back on board, we stopped by two male walruses that had arrived offshore from the main haul- out and were rolling about in the water. After lunch, we began our journey further N – onward towards the ice.

Before we reached the ice edge, we had brief views of a mother and calf pair of fin whales. At the ice edge, we turned W, to give it a chance. The ice was beautiful, large and white, some places piled up in pressure ridg- es and hummocks, other places consisting of large flat pans. We didn’t find any bears or even foot-prints, but we did over the course of the late afternoon and the evening see more than a dozen ringed seals, a cou- ple of bearded seals, and just before we turned the ship just after 9 pm, one flock of some 10 harp seals. That brought the day’s total to five seal species, pretty much full plate for Svalbard. July 6:

E across just N of Spitsbergen & Nordaustlandet - Sjuøyane (the Seven Islands)

Sunny with partial high and mostly thin cloud; N of Wijdefjorden and Hinlopenstretet f6-7 SSE about 6-9 am, otherwise the rest of the day f0-2; 3-8°C/36-47°F degrees, clear. Our day began somewhat violently when at around 06.15 am, we simultaneously hit a strong almost gale force wind coming out of Wijdefjorden and later Hinlopenstretet, while we also turned onto a northerly course and thus were rolled around in open water for a while. But it was all temporary, and already later in the morning we were in quite the opposite situation, we were in flat calm conditions and surrounded by open drift-ice. A highlight of the morning was our slow approach – and subsequent retreat from – a trio of walruses on a small ice-floe, female with pup-of-the-year plus one other adult – maybe the pup’s older sib- ling? The light was just gorgeous on them, and we were happy to be able to leave them again undisturbed.

Over the entire rest of the day, right up until 9.30 pm, we scanned the ice for bears. There were patches of more open ice, at other times we were near fast-ice, or simply the edge of very consolidated drift ice. We encountered more walruses here and there, and noted close to 10 ringed seals as well, but not bears. The views were all day gorgeous, the clouds were interesting, the Seven Islands were splendid, and the ice was beautiful. We were turned around near the S end of Maartensøya, and later came to anchor off the W side of Phippsøya. A good starting point for our continued search for bears along the ice edge tomorrow. July 7:

Sjuøyane (Seven Islands) - W until parked in pack-ice at 80° 44’ N and 016° 08’ E.

Overcast, f0-2 variable mostly SW, 5-1°C/41-34°F, clear.

After breakfast, we departed from the W side of Phippsøya under windless conditions. It was now overcast and a very grey day, al- though the light in the distance was bright for some hours. We soon met the edge of very compacted pack-ice, and for the duration of the day it would be fair to describe that we generally travelled W with open water on our port side and 9-10/10 heavy pack-ice on our starboard. Soon after dinner, we parked by going almost two nautical miles into the ice and stopping the engine. It was a long and rather cold day of scanning, the temperature dropped since morning and mostly hovered around 1°C/34°F. Overall, it was a very quiet day despite good visibility and vast amounts of ice. We noted some 15+ ringed, 2 bearded and one group of about 5 harp seals.

The first excitement came when an Arctic fox was seen running across the floes near the edge. It was very white still, but beginning to moult into a summer coat. Seemingly somewhat lost, it just kept going, and we could only hope for it that it succeeds in making landfall, perhaps on Sjuøyane. Then, finally, after 5.00 pm, our first bear. Seen first at the distance sleeping, but near the ice edge, we inched closer over a good long time. The bear began sniffing the air actively, then after a while got up and --- limped away! We clearly saw that he, a handsome male in his best age, was seriously wounded, no blood or gashes visible, but a bump above the right paw as well as his limping indicated a broken wrist. We imme- diately stopped and soon after departed the scene, in order to leave him to not be moving more than he wanted. One lone ivory gull stood watch over the ice lump which the bear went behind.

Only about half an hour later, there was great com- motion, but to no avail: From the bridge, first one - and later two more - narwhal were spotted. Jonathan, thinking he was photographing a seal, managed to get a shot of the first one, clinching the ID. But alas, the mini-pod was gone before any more visuals could be had, despite many being quick to be on deck.

After a long day of scanning the ice, it was time to turn in, and we prepared for this by turning the ship N into the pack, until we had parked before 9.00 pm surrounded by very handsome ice-floes. July 8:

Along and in the pack-ice from 80° 42’ N and 016° 15’ E to 80° 35’ N and 014° 38’ E.

Overcast, still to f1 variable directions, 6 to -1°C/42-30°F, dense fog until 1.45 pm, then very clear.

Another long day in the ice, beautiful and variable. Curiously, we travelled almost 100 NM by ship, but there was a mere 20-25 NM between our starting and end points. On our meandering, in the morning, we trav- elled through a lot of thin first-year ice broken often into very regular and angled pieces with at times much open water in between. The fog made it impossible to see where water ended and sky began – absolutely no horizon line. It was mild at first, but gradually the temperatures dropped over the day, and by evening it was just below freezing. Shortly after lunch, the fog dissipated as if by magic. The air turned crystal clear and remained that way all day. As the ice kept changing quality, we kept feeling good about our search. It was less than two hours after the returned visibility when the first polar bear was seen. It was a fat adult male, but it walked away. Some 1,5 hours later, we found the next one, also an adult male. This bear was lying near an open water lead edge, in an area with many ringed seals. We inched closer, but already at about half a mile’s distance, he looked at us and slinked down from his elevated ice piece and was never seen again. Mysterious how he got away. While we waited to perhaps spot him again, we enjoyed the antics of an inquisitive bunch of Brünnich’s guillemots (thick-billed murres), perhaps a bachelor gang of non-breeders? There were showy black guillemots and northern fulmars too. And the sky was amazing, as was the ice around us. Finally, we fired up the engine again, but soon afterwards a new bear appeared close in front of the ship. Another mature male, this one was on a scent and swam and walked in a bee-line past us and away from us, totally ignoring us.

No doubt we had found something of a hot-spot. We soon parked the ship in the ice, and with a fourth bear for the day spotted walking around in the distance, we settled in for the night with the anticipation to be woken anytime – and also the anticipation of another great day tomorrow. July 9:

Along and in the pack-ice from 80° 37’ N and 014° 58’ E to 80° 20’ N and 012° 30’ E.

Overcast morning, some blue patches appearing gradually, from early af- ternoon bright sunshine and few clouds; f4-2 S until 2.30 pm, then f5-6 SW; 1-5°C/34-41°F; clear all day.

We had drifted some 3,5 NM NE overnight, and were after breakfast more or less back where we had been 12 hours earlier. But the bears must have drifted off too, or wandered off, they were not seen this morning. We started up and continued or slow and deliberate search along the mostly very consolidated pack-ice edge in a general direction towards the SW. The ice changed char- acter several times over the day. There were areas with lighter and thinner floes, areas with very heavy and strongly piled-up chunks and full of pressure ridges, and there were a few open drift ice areas among the mostly very dense ice-covered stretches.

Ringed seals were here and there, but never many; we saw three bearded seals of which one was briefly photographable; and there were some 5-6 small groups of harp seals seen briefly in the water. On the pinniped front, the huge surprise and highlight of the day were two juvenile hooded seals resting on a floe edge. Alas we spotted them so late that we had no time to slow the ship – they jumped in as we passed, but many of us had time to see them and snap a few photos. A rare sighting in Svalbard! Unbelievably, another very rare Svalbard sighting took place simultaneously – very stressful and confus- ing! Derek discovered an unusual bird, and with Jen- ny’s help identified it as a northern gannet. Also this species way out of normal range!

During lunch, we received intelligence from anoth- er ship about a polar bear female with a cub on our route, and we sped in that direction. It was some 1-2 hours sailing away, depending on how much ice we would have to negotiate on the way. But alas, the winds now began to blow stronger and stronger from the SW, and while we had sunshine and great visibil- ity and also great ice as we got nearer to the spot, we also realized that we would be in grave danger of becoming ice-bound if we continued towards the exact location – we simply had to resort to following the ice-edge from the outside, so to speak.

Another nice evening meal by Christian was served to us while we were in a lee behind ice, and after that, we headed across the open sea stretch from the ice edge towards the N shores of Spitsbergen. There were a couple of hours of some rolling. July 10:

Wijdefjorden

Dense fog until noon, then bright sunshine; f1 morning, afternoon f3, NW; 2-5°C/36- 41°F.

We were arriving off the N end of Wijdefjorden in the early hours of today, and it was decided to turn into the fjord to check out the vast amount of broken up fjord-ice that the ice chart said was still there. We were slow in our progress, the visibility was very poor, and there was an increasing amount of ice. It was not really weather for scanning, but we tried anyhow, and we did manage to see a couple of ringed seals and one adult female hooded seal in the morning. While we continued S into the fjord, the fog gradually lifted, and we were rewarded by wonderful views all around, the snow-clad softly rounded mountains on one side of the fjord, a glacier tumbling down on the other. There were few birds, but notably many flocks of little auks / dovekies, all flying N. During lunch, the guides spotted a distant bearded seal on the edge of a small ice floe, and after lunch we were all on deck, photographing the beauty as we inched closer and closer. Johannes then put the ship in reverse and we inched away again, and the seal continued its sunbathing undisturbed.

The afternoon passed in much the same way as the morning, scanning for the bears that were not there, while watching the changing scenery as the fog rolled back in in strips, and also a couple of times produced a fog-bow next to our vessel. During din- ner, Rinie announced that we now definitely would be heading for Wahlenbergfjorden in Hinlopenstretet for tomorrow. July 11:

Murchisonfjorden, from Nordvika - Kinnvika

Dense fog all morning, slowly lifting, by mid-afternoon clear, sunny and only scattered cloud; f1-2 WNW; 2-5°C/36- 41°F.

In the night, we headed into Murchisonfjorden instead of continuing – there were reports of bears. During break- fast, we were not so sure what they day would bring, as we were in dense fog – a fog that had been around since about 3.00 am. We lifted the anchor and headed deeper into the fjord, towards Nordvika (North Bay). At the en- trance to this innermost bay of the fjord lay a female bear on the ice, her one cub-of-the-year nearby. It was foggy and hard to see her clearly, and there was thin fjord-ice between the ship and them. We had to wait and see. A bit later, she got up and began walking. Essentially, she continued walking for the next 8 hours. She did take a few breaks, but she was more or less on the go the entire day, with the cub pacing along behind her. Measured on the map, she walked some 10 miles while we watched her. In the beginning, it was from some distance, and in the fog, and it seemed hard to imagine we would get her close. We photographed a beard- ed seal, we watched the black guillemots, we enjoyed being off the ship – and we waited. We headed back for a quick lunch and a chance to warm up. And then we headed out again.

In the beginning of the afternoon excursion, the fog was still heavy. But soon, it lifted, and in the meantime, we had caught up with the family again, and we now had the pleasure of being able to follow the bears along the shoreline for several hours. One of the highlights was when she spotted a huge bearded seal on a floe offshore and decided to try for it. She parked her cub on the shore and got in the water, aiming for the seal. But the cub was uneasy, and soon began yapping loudly – which essentially caused her to turn around and give up the hunt.

With a windless hour or more spent in the outer parts of the fjord, near Kinnvika, we enjoyed not just the walking of the bears, but also more seals, ringed as well as bearded, a pair of red / grey phalaropes, and many beautiful chunks of ice glowing blue in the bright light. July 12:

Murchisonfjorden from Nordvika - Søre Russøya - Hinlopen- stretet - Palanderbukta

Overcast, still to f1 variable, 3-6°C/37-42°F, clear.

We started just after breakfast today, at 9.00 am sharp, with a Zodiac launch, and off we went to explore the southern half of Murchisonfjorden, having successfully traversed the N part yesterday. Not long after, while one boat enjoyed the antics of a bearded seal, the other boat sat next to a performing male walrus. Later again, we all toured along coastlines and around ice-floes, seeing more seals and a few reindeer, many common eiders and black guillemots, and a few Arctic skuas / parasit- ic jaegers. Conditions were really good, but of course as the hours went by, a bit nippy. We were more or less mentally pre- paring for a return to the ship when Nozomi spotted a polar bear on Søre Russøya. A big, handsome, healthy-looking male bear was roaming the island a bit in from the shoreline. He soon came right down to the beach to have a quick look at us from very close quarters. He then decided to essentially ignore us and continued his patrolling. The other boat joined in, and we watched him for another good half hour, before he even- tually went farther inland and laid down on a vegetation patch on a hill. It was after 1.00 pm when we were back on board for lunch. The afternoon was spent cruising out from Murchisonfjorden, passing along the way not only the resting bear again, and the Russian Pomor cross on Krossøya, but also the sad wreck of the Northguider, a shrimp trawler which ran aground here last winter. A Minke whale showed briefly. After a couple of hours of open water in Hinlopenstretet, we turned W into Wahlenbergfjorden and eventually come dinner-time entered into Palan- derbukta. Here we soon found our- selves parked in the most wondrous garden of melting fjord-ice, endless variations of delightful grey, white and pale blue patterns all around us in the still, quiet evening, framed perfect- ly by the seemingly barren stretches of black, brown, grey and white hills, mountains, glaciers and snow-patch- es. It was hard to let it go and turn in for the night. July 13:

Palanderbukta - Wahlenbergfjorden - Hinlopenstretet

Overcast, still to f1 variable, 3-6°C/37-42°F, clear apart from fog briefly afternoon.

At 7.30 am, we departed from the rotting fjord ice (having drifted with it over- night some two nautical miles out of Palanderbukta!). We soon turned into Wahlenbergfjorden and cruised E in it as far as the ice would allow, then on a slightly more northerly line, we cruised back out to the W. The entire exercise took some 8 hours, and all along the way the views were spectacular, with the hills reflected in the fjord, the water itself at times open and clear, at other times covered in the remnant fjord-ice, just days from disappearing completely. There were very many ringed seals scattered over the ice, and the occasional walrus and bearded seal too. On the shores, little groups of reindeer were grazing on what little vegetation they could find, and a few flocks of moulting pink-footed geese walked about as well.

Just before lunch, the first polar bear was spotted. A very young male, slightly thin, he was first spooked by our sudden presence. He must have been sleeping behind a little pile of ice on his big floe, and when he saw us, he ran. But at the far end of the floe, he relaxed a bit, and while he made up his mind what he really wanted to do, we inched around the floe and came as close as he was comfort- able with. This made him approach us for a short while, but then he continued with his own agenda. We managed to circle around him once more, and the photography was just perfect with this pretty little bear reflected in the grand scenery of ice and mountain.

Not long after, another distant bear was spotted, seem- ingly on a kill. A band of some 30 glaucous gulls gave it away. But alas, the kill was old and rotting, only the bones and skin remained from what had been a beard- ed seal some days ago. Even the bear saw no reason to stay there and took off a long time before we were even close, swimming onto Gyldénøyane nearby and continuing across the islands, scavenging for eider and tern eggs.

We turned the ship away from the scene, and it was not long after when Duncan found us a third bear. A large, strong-looking, fattish male, he was meandering on a thin sliver of ice for a while, also rolling about on it, but when we got closer and were still approaching, he took a few steps towards us as if curious, but then suddenly half-ran away from us and into the water. We left him to be, but were still quite happy with another male bear photographed in the beauty of today’s environment.

Through the afternoon, we cruised through to the W side of Hinlopenstretet and then S to Vaigatbogen, after which we turned and anchored off the N side of Nor- denskiöldøya. The afternoon was entirely still, which al- lowed for magnificent reflections of formations of ice, birds and land under the grey and silver sky. There was a short period of fog, otherwise conditions remained pic- ture perfect. July 14:

S Hinlopenstretet, clockwise circle around Vaigattøyane and Von Otterøyane

Overcast, still to f1 variable, 3-6°C/37-42°F, clear except dense fog noon until 2.00 pm.

We cruised all day in great ice, bands and strands and blocks and clots of both clean first-year floes and more piled up areas. The average ice-cover was probably some 7/10, in pockets up to 10/10, thus forcing our hand, in other areas more open. We travelled from Nordenskiöldøya to Vaigattøyane, then clockwise around Von Otterøyane. Come noon, dense fog set in and spoiled the fun. Until then, we had seen very many bearded seals and also a few ringed seals and ivory gulls. There were numerous long strings of Brün- nich’s guillemots / thick-billed murres flying all morning.

After lunch, the fog cleared very suddenly, and the rest of the day we again had excellent visibility and ex- cellent views of ice, scenery and birdlife. We went back past Nordenskiöldøya and tried to plow through to the E on the S side of the island, but were forced back again. We eventually came to an anchorage off the N tip of Von Otterøya, from where we would have but a short transit over to the eastern-more part of S Hinlo- penstretet, where the search for bears would continue tomorrow. July 15:

Von Otterøya - Palanderøya - E side of Wahlbergøya - Palanderbukta

Overcast; f2-3 ESE; 1-3°C/33-37°F; mostly clear morning, mostly dense fog after- noon and evening.

After another quiet night, we woke up to clear conditions and a slightly increased breeze, now consistently blowing from the ESE. We departed from our anchorage off the N shore of Von Otterøya, with the intention of heading primarily E and SE. Soon, we were not only in fog, but also facing a “wall” of ice. There was only one option, to turn N and try plying through to the NE towards Torellneset. Just off the SE tip of Walhbergøya, called Jädrinneset, we were just about to go through a gap between two massive ice-floes when the starboard one moved rapidly and closed the gap. One minute earlier, we could have gone through. Now instead, those of us lucky enough to be looking at the time witnessed the immediate formation of a pressure ridge, as the two ice-floes collided.

We turned the ship to the W again, and after first trying to get around Vaigattøyane to the S, but finding it blocked, we instead began the slow journey across towards the NW on the N side of the islands – a narrow water way with many shallows and even more uncharted areas. Just as we saw a gap between the islands that was not full of ice, we also spotted a bear. It was a strong and healthy looking fully adult fe- male, still hunting right in the middle of a large first-year ice-pan, and so we parked the ship next to the floe and waited. And waited… Eventually, it was lunchtime, and the bear had all but shifted from one seal-hole to the next. The fog was coming in again, and we departed. The afternoon saw us circumnavigating Wahlbergøya in a clock-wise direction, still aiming for the unknown ice to the E and SE. The fog was more persistent now, and eventually we parked the ship in a large ice-floe around 4.30 pm and settled in for another wait. In the mean- time, we had our first ice-chart in four days, and it was studied meticulously. It indicated surprisingly little change for such a long time-period: There was no apparent further opening up in the N, and there was still the same general pic- ture of blockage to the S. Come evening, with relentless fog and ice around, and no wildlife visible, we turned the ship N, aiming for another go at Palanderbuk- ta tonight and tomorrow. As we entered Wahlenbergfjorden, the fog lifted and the light as well as the ice was magical in the evening.

Late, we met up with M/S Freya and took water from her. Now, we could have our full freedom to shower and flush as we pleased. We stayed tied up with Freya until 05.00 am. July 16:

Wahlenbergfjorden around Gyldénøyane - Palanderbukta

Overcast; still morning, f2-4 SE afternoon, f1 variable evening; 1-3°C/33-37°F; mostly dense fog morning, all clear afternoon and evening.

It was a somewhat slow start, but we were soon at it again, scanning for bears in variable ice conditions and in du- bious visibility conditions. It was quite foggy all morning, but we tried out best on the E and N side of Gyldénøya- ne. Just before lunch, as we had arrived off the SW side of the islands, the fog lifted, and immediately a bear was seen. We approached, and we had a super sweet and wonderful albeit brief encounter with a young adult female in a fine condition. From her resting position, she got up and came right over, circling to her right around the bow of the ship and cautiously eyeing us all on deck. Few minutes later, she slowly walked away again. She was a beauty, and we were all thankful for her visit. We watched her depart the floe, swimming to another huge one, and meander across that until almost out of view. After lunch, we headed towards Palanderbukta, but before arriving there, Rinie saw some bear movement miles away. We closed the gap although no further evidence of the bear was seen for a long time. Nozomi re-discov- ered it in the water, and we had decent views of this powerful adult male as he first swam, then briefly walked across a floe, then swam again. He was not having any of us, and we let him vanish in the seascape.

Into, and out of Palanderbukta, we were enjoying the stark, forbidding, naked, cold, hostile, wonderful scenery, glaciers and snow, bare hills and mountains, the winds cold against our cheeks. A few small groups of walruses were hauled out on floes, plus one group on shore, plus a single animal in the water. It was thought provoking to see that the vast amount of fjord ice that we had parked in just a few days ago was totally gone, and the entire fjord now lay pretty much ice free before us. At the glacier head of the bay, we turned the ship and headed back out. A yellow tent oddly stood on the glacier? An Arctic fox ran along the shore. It was soon “sin-and-tonic” time for some… ah, but no, there was another bear. Evening program interrupted, everyone on deck, cameras on the ready – but then he turned out to be another disinterested male that just walked away. July 17:

Wahlenbergfjorden - Hinlopenstretet

Morning part overcast part sunny, from ca. 11.00 am until 7.00 pm completely overcast, then clearing to mostly sunny evening; all day still; 4°C/40°F; super clear all day.

For the weather, the scenery, the ice, the light, and for that matter the number of bearded and ringed seals, it was a superb day. In the morning, it was unbelievably clear with a seemingly infinite visibility as we cruised deep into and then back out of Wahlen- bergfjorden. There were walruses on small floes, numerous ringed seals on bigger floes, and there were wonderful views of the Vest- fonna icecap and all the glaciers and mountains all around. Come mid-morning or a bit later, the cloud cover dampened the colours a bit, but the air remained very clear. We cruised past Gyldénøya- ne once again, and back out through the heavy ice at the mouth of the fjord – this time to turn S in Hinlopenstretet, aiming to scan the ice that had filled the entire eastern and central section since we were last there.

It didn’t take long before the first bear was spotted. A large, heavy- set, strong looking, and quite orange-ish male, shy and deter- mined not to be mingled with. Later in the afternoon, a female bear was spotted. She was healthy looking, and she was certainly healthily going about her business. She was on the trot almost, for a long, long time, actively searching the ice everywhere, sniffing, often getting up on her hind legs to have a better look around, often swimming, then again walking, not even taking time to roll. We followed her at considerable dis- tance, but eventually due to her erratic directions ended up al- most getting in front of her. She had sensed a seal, which slid into the water, but for a while she continued stalking the scent, sneak- ing ever closer to the spot by diving under ice and re-appearing in holes and leads. Eventually she realized the seal was gone and simply turned back on her previous course and disappeared to- wards the S. Later, we realized she was the same female who had visited us just yesterday.

While she was still visible, and before we let her finally vanish from our view, another female was walking towards us from the oppo- site direction. This bear seemed for a long time to be aiming for us, but before she got right up to us, she veered off and walked N. She was collared, and she had dirty, brown stains all over her head and ears and face. She seemed lethargic, depressed, not in a good state.

Shortly before dinner, a fourth bear was spotted on a nearby is- land. But it was left to be. After dinner, most of us spent time on deck because the weather just turned stupendously beautiful, and we enjoyed the still, the reflections and the views all around. We came to anchor on a submarine terminal moraine off the W side of the strait. July 18:

SW Hinlopenstretet - Wahlenbergfjorden

Overcast, all morning rain and moderate visibility, from noon snow, then from about 2.00 pm clearing to dry and good visibility; f3-5 N morning, f3-4 W af- ternoon, f2-3 W evening; 3°C/38°F.

The forecasted weather system, on which our plans were somewhat based, was already announcing its arrival in the early hours of the day, with slightly in- creased winds, quite dark conditions, and rain. It con- tinued through to noon, with wind speeds increasing slowly, and the rain continuing. Visibility was im- paired, and most of us were comfortably settling into the idea that it would be a quiet day for catching up with chores, diaries, photo-editing, etc.

Around noon, we entered through a thick band of ice into Wahlenbergfjorden once again, and the rain turned into snow as the wind direction changed from N to W. At 2.00 pm, with visibility improving and the snow gradually stopping, a bear was seen on a large floe. As we pulled loser, it became obvious that it was lying not far from a kill, and additionally that a smaller bear was also in attendance, also lying down. We spent the rest of the day at the site. Pushing the vessel against the edge of the floe, we watched and watched. It was a bit distant, but with binoculars and long lenses, it was still possible to photograph and study the scene in details. The big bear was a huge male, fat and filthy. The smaller bear was a 3,5-year- old male, slightly on the skinny side (it turned out we knew that one too, from July 13th). The big guy had obviously had his fill, and the little one, all white and clean, had had nothing at all. And it was not about to change. Every time the younger bear made an attempt to feed, the older bear stood him off. It re- peated several times over many hours. Even though the bigger bear seemed to want to walk away and snooze, he became restless as soon as the other closed in on the bearded seal remains, and eventual- ly stood up and chased away the other. 30 glaucous gulls and at one point three ivory gulls, as well as two great skuas, were less disturbed by the large bear, and successfully scavenged all day. As the afternoon became evening, and the evening night, the weather eased, the sky was lit in many variations of white, grey and sometimes a bit of blue, and the winds slowed their pace. July 19:

Wahlenbergfjorden - Hinlopenstretet - Bjørnsundet - N around Wilhelmøya - Hochstetterbreen - back around to S. Hinlopenstretet

Morning Hinlopenstretet overcast 6-8/8, clear, f1-2 N, 2°C/36°F. Late morning Bjørnsundet overcast 8/8, clear, f1-2 SSE, 7°C/45°F but briefly f4-5 SW and 11°C/51°F. Later afternoon clearing to sunny 2/8, f2-4 SE, 5°C/41°F. Evening sunny 1/8, extremely clear, still, 3°C/37°F.

After a fine night of sunshine and still conditions, but also still on the bear front (they slept through the night), we departed from the floe early morning and continued on our search by driving back down Hinlo- penstretet, arriving finally late morning into the N end of Bjørnsundet. A cool morning suddenly became warm. The winds shifted from N to SSE and the temperatures rose. Particularly spectacular was a brief pe- riod with up to 11°C/51°F, when a warm SW föhn blew into our faces straight off the icecap Slottsjøkullen.

We were, however, in the might of the ice. A huge unbroken floe stretched almost across the sound, and it prevented us from getting any further than a few miles into Bjørnsundet. Ah, so close and yet so far. In the far distance to the S, a bear was seen disappearing into the shimmer, while another sleeping bear lay on a nearby island. After lunch, we turned the ship and found a lead along the N shores of Wilhelmøya. We used it to get around to the other side of the island (and de facto to the other end of Bjørnsundet). At Hochstetterbreen we found the expected vast sheet of fast ice – but unlike our expectations, there was but one bear, and even that one distant. We turned the ship once again.

By now, the cloud cover had completely cleared, and we had another spectacular evening with still con- ditions, bright sunshine, endless visibility, and awesome ice. The dense pack which had been a bit to the N in the afternoon had closed the gap, and Johannes found himself intensely occupied with his favourite pastime – using the ship to its full capacity to get us through the ice. July 20:

SW Hinlopenstretet - Wahlenbergfjorden and Gyldénøyane

Overcast 8/8 (briefly 6/8); F0-1 SE Hinlopentretet, NW f0-2 Wahlenbergfjorden; 2-4°C/36-40°F Hinlopenstretet, 7-2°C/45- 40°F Wahlenbergfjorden; moderate to poor visibility until noon, then very clear.

The weather had once again changed overnight, it was to be a grey day. We spent the morning slowly cruising from Nor- denskiöldøya in the SW part of Hinlopenstretet, fruitlessly scan- ning for a bear on the thin ice and through the more or less dense fog. There was some traffic around now, we heard and/or saw at least four other ships today. After the quiet morning, we entered into Wahlenbergfjorden for the fourth time on this voyage, and it was as if coming through a doorway between separate rooms; the weather completely changed, the fog was gone and the vis- ibility excellent, and the temperature soared from 4-7°/40-45°.

It was exactly bear o’clock, 12.45 pm, when the first bear was spotted. This was a young sub-adult male, a bear we had not seen before, slowly meandering about on a large ice-floe, some- times still-hunting for a while, sometimes resting, sometimes just casually meandering. We watched him for a few hours. We repositioned the ship around the floe to get up-wind of him. And we waited. In the meantime, another bear was spotted by Nozomi some 5 miles away. Even- tually, we lowered the Zodiacs and most of us sped off to have what promised to be an amazing encounter – and it was. We saw a bear at close quarters, at eye level, with a glacier back-drop and in good light. But --- so close and yet so far. This was our sad female from the 17th, the collared one with the depressed body posture and the sagging skin. Oh no, this could have been the photo opportunity of the voyage, but the subject matter was too depressing to photograph.

We decided to sit at floe edge over dinner. Right before the serv- ing of our main course, Björn spotted a Minke whale right next to the floe and the ship. We ran out to check it out, only to discover a large male polar bear walking across the floe slightly in our direction. We enjoyed watching this fat bear majestically wan- der about on the floe, causing the younger male to flee in panic at quite some distance, sauntering up to the remains of the kill, feeding briefly, then sauntering off towards a far edge, where he offered us one glance over his shoulder before flinging himself into the water to swim off to the island. As we steamed away, he came out on the rocks and continued walking.

It was time now to let Wahlenbergfjorden and Hinlopenstretet go. It had been a good home to us the last 10 days, but now we would be heading N and out into open ocean once more, aiming for the northern pack-ice once again.

July 21:

Sjuøyane (The 7 Islands) - ice-edge clockwise around and past Nordkapp, then mostly W

Variable cloud-cover 4-8/8 all day, sunny morning and afternoon, grey midday and evening; f0-2 all day, initially NW, later SE and S; 3°C/38°F; some mist morning, otherwise very clear.

After breakfast, we were entering from the W the passage between Parry and Phipps Islands. Over the morning, we proceeded E until we reached a very solid edge of strongly hummocked ice – very similar to the last time we were here. We drove clockwise around in a big circle, first S, then W, and along the way passed Nordkapp before lunch. After a sunny spell in the morning, the high but thin cloud covered the sky entirely and with the light winds dropping out completely, there were some moments of brilliant reflections all around. First it was grey on grey, later it became blue on blue, when some of the cloud dissipated again. The mirages were spectacular.

Scanning conditions were excellent almost all day, but on the bear front there was no reward. There were some 20+ sightings of each of ringed and bearded seals and walruses. A few ivory gulls were also spotted, as were a couple of puffins, the first in a long time. July 22:

Pack-ice edge NW of Moffen - Raudfjorden - Holmiabukta - W coast of Spitsbergen

Overcast, occasional light drizzle, f4 SW morning dropping out in the afternoon to f2-0, 3°C/38°F, visibility good at sea but moderate inshore.

It turned out to be a very bumpy night. As we proceeded W overnight, we entered into open waters after having passed Moffen, and on the way back N and NW towards the pack-ice edge, we had a cross-swell, enough to cause sleeplessness for most. The morning was slow for everyone, and it did not help that when we finally reached the ice, it turned out to be treacherously packed by the winds and bouncing in the swells. We turned the ship back S. In the afternoon, we cruised along the shores of first Raudfjorden, then in between the islands of the NW corner of Spitsbergen into Holmiabukta and later Smeerenburgfjorden. Visibility was moderate now, there was a light drizzle at times, and there was no success with the scanning, apart from great scenery, particularly in Raudfjorden. Overnight, we made our way S on a friendly sea. July 23:

Alkhornet - Isfjorden - Longyearbyen

Part overcast part sunny, f0-2NE, 4-14°C/40-59°F, clear.

We ended our voyage with a superb day in Isfjorden. The weather was mild, warm, clear. We departed from the ship on a glass sea just after 9.00 am, and soon we were striding across the lush green tundra underneath Alkhornet, the impressive towering mountain housing thousands of breeding birds, which have caused all this vegetation to flourish. And because of the birds, the Arctic foxes live here too, and because of the vegetation, the reindeer live here too. Those two terrestrial mammals were the target species of the morning, and we did well with both.

A couple of foxes were about, and one in particular entertained us for a long time, not just coming and going between forays onto the tundra plains, but also practically running about between our legs - certainly between our var- ious tripods, back-packs and what else we had lying scattered about in the grass. The fox was seen carrying a Brünnich’s guillemot (thick-billed murre) chick, and it was seen attempting to dig into the ground to bury it for later consumption. On the way back towards the landing site, we spent some time with a group of reindeer, perhaps some of the same that had come charging past us earlier, frolicking in the warm sunshine of this late July sum- mer’s day. It was with reluctance that we went back to the Zodiacs for a de- layed lunch. Reports of large baleen whales in Is- fjorden caused us to go on the search for them in the late afternoon, and we had not been long underway before some were seen. A humpback whale spent a few minutes on the surface be- hind the ship while we focussed for a longer time on three massive fin whales that were synchronously spouting and diving in front of the ship. During din- ner, the whale show ended with a huge pod of belugas seen spread out over a large area at the mouth of Advent- fjorden, just before we got to Long- yearbyen.

During our final dinner, everyone thanked everyone for all the efforts and good spirits that made this voyage, and soon we were either packing or having our last bottles of wine. July 24:

Longyearbyen

Overcast, f2 SW, 4-8°C/40-47°F, clear.

It was a smooth departure from the vessel, Tolitha and Isa just after midnight, Rita just after 8.00 am, and everyone else at 9.00 am. We swung by for the luggage just be- fore noon, and that was it.

On behalf of NozoMojo = Morten and Nozomi, and our partner Rinie van Meurs, thank you everyone for your great company and spirits and for joining us on this unique, marathon, polar-bears-on-ice, 20-night, ad- venture in Svalbard, July 2019. We will be delighted to see you all again. SPECIES

BIRDS

Red-throated Diver / Loon: 3 adults together in the lagoon at Smeerenburg, July 5. 1 flew south high above on July 6. On July 11, there were 2 individuals in Murchisonfjorden.

Northern Fulmar: Daily and practically everywhere, but generally fairly low numbers.

Northern Gannet: Derek most surprisingly found us this species at 80,4°N, in the pack-ice, on July 9, a sub-adult individual fly- ing about as if it belonged there.

Pink-footed Goose: Deep inside Wahlenbergfjorden, as well as near Gyldénøyane, there were moulting flocks of a total of 99 individuals on July 13.

Barnacle Goose: Only noted with a handful of individuals near the beginning and end of our voyage.

Common Eider: Almost daily in small or medium sized flocks, except during our stays in the pack-ice. Highest count was 120+ in Murchisonfjorden, July 11.

Grey / Red Phalarope: A pair was in the little lagoon at Smeerenburg, July 5. Another pair was foraging south of Kinnvika in Murchisonfjorden on July 11.

Arctic Skua / Parasitic Jaeger: A few were registered more or less every other day on average, both in the ice and on shore. There were most in the fjords, and the highest day count was 10+ on July 15 in Wahlenbergfjorden. Long-tailed Skua / Jaeger: Two overflew Smeerenburg on July 5.

Great Skua: A total of 16 individuals were noted, four of them quite high north in the pack-ice, the rest in the fjords.

Glaucous Gull: Seen daily in small numbers, the highest count being a flock of 35 adult birds attending the remains of a beard- ed seal on an ice-floe in Wahlenbergfjorden, July 13 and 18.

Black-legged Kittiwake: Daily, but in fairly low numbers, especially very few in the pack-ice.

Ivory Gull: After spending more than 24 hours total scanning ice, we saw the first one at the exact same spot as our first polar bear, on July 7. Since then, another 32 were noted over the course of our three-week journey, almost an identical number to our polar bear sightings count. Most ivory gulls were seen singly or in pairs overflying ice, the highest day count was eight in heavy pack-ice just north of Bjørnsundet on July 19.

Arctic Tern: 50+ at Smeerenburg, July 5. A few here and there in the ice. Highest count 100+ in Murchisonfjorden on July 11.

Brünnich’s Guillemot / Thick-billed Murre: Daily, in small numbers, in open sea as well as in the ice, and also when we made landings. In the pack-ice around 80,5°N, they were observed to be flying to/from areas farther N, beyond our reach behind the ice barrier. Many skeins of scores and sometimes hundreds at a time were flying in Hinlopenstretet all the days we were there. Many of those were observed to be flying to and from Olgastretet, beyond our reach behind the ice barrier. On July 23, a con- siderable number of paired fathers and chicks were seen swimming in Isfjorden.

Black Guillemot: Daily in small numbers at all locations. More than 150 were registered in Murchisonfjorden on July 11.

Little Auk / Dovekie: Small flocks noted daily, both near land and in the ice. Many small to medium sized flocks (50+ birds) were in Wijdefjorden July 10, all flying N.

Atlantic Puffin: On July 4-7, small numbers were seen daily, including at almost 81°N. Since then we had few observations, but puffins were again present when we got back towards the west side of Spitsbergen.

Snow Bunting: The presence of several clutches of fledglings was noted at Alkhornet, July 23, as was the behaviour of several adult males, as they escorted Arctic foxes with loud warning calls. MAMMALS

Minke Whale: Three sightings: July 8, one was seen by crew members, spy-hopping in dense pack-ice. July 12, one showed briefly at the southern entrance to Murchisonfjorden. July 20, one briefly logged, then went into a dive and vanished at the edge of an ice-floe in Wahlen- bergfjorden.

Fin Whale: A female with a calf was seen north of Amsterdamøya, July 5. Three were feeding in tight synchrony on July 23 in Isfjorden.

Humpback Whale: A seemingly smallish individual was feeding in Isfjorden, July 23.

Narwhal: Three animals were very briefly seen by very few on July 7, swimming along the pack-ice edge at 80,77°N. The sighting was fortu- nately documented by crew-member Jonathan. This was the first live sighting of the species by NozoMojo in Svalbard, after having found no less than three dead ones with polar bears on them in the pack-ice over the previous two seasons.

Beluga Whale: Crew-members reported three on July 10 at Breibogen, while all of us had the chance to see some 200+ in a mega-pod just as we were passing the airport and arriving into Longyearbyen on the evening of July 23.

Walrus: Without spending much effort trying to find them, we clocked some 280 animals in about 20 sightings. Some 30 males were at Smeerenburg, July 5. On July 6, many groups of predominantly females with calves were seen on ice as we travelled east, particularly pass- ing north of Lågøya. Since then, it was mostly the odd animal here and there, including a most obliging male by himself on a small floe in Murchisonfjorden on July 12.

Harbour / Common Seal: 16, including two females with very young pups, were relaxing at Virgohamna, July 5. A super nice encounter.

Harp Seal: Less than 40 noted in total during about five days spent along the northern pack-ice edge July 5-9 was very few! Upon returning to the same area on the 22nd, we didn’t see a single one.

Hooded Seal: Two juveniles were surprisingly seen on a floe at the pack-ice edge north of Moffen on July 9. Also surprisingly there was an adult female in Wijdefjorden on July 10. A very welcome addition to our mammal sightings list. Ringed Seal: 485 ringed seals were registered over our 21 days, although there are bound to be some double entries, in that for instance we came and went in Wahlenbergfjorden and the southern end of Hinlopenstretet several times. Although the number seems high, our general feeling was that there were few ringed seals in the northern pack-ice. The highest counts were made in the fjords on the remnant fast ice, with more than 50 in Murchisonfjorden on July 12, and more than 100 in Wahlenbergfjorden on July 17.

Bearded Seal: 121 bearded seals were noted over the three weeks. Of these, about 30 only were seen in the pack-ice in the N, the remaining all in the fjords or S Hinlopenstretet. Three were recently killed by polar bears. Despite ignoring most of the bearded seals, we did have some awesome encounters with a handful of them.

Polar Bear: Despite the ice conditions, we managed to see a good number of polar bears. What we struggled more with was close encoun- ters, not least perhaps because the majority of our bears were adult males. We noted a scarcity of females with cubs. Our voyage total was probably 23 bears, of which 15 were independent males, 4 were adult females and one was a female yearling. The last 3 were too distant to tell. One lone and sad-looking female was collared (born 2003, also without cubs in 2018). The males that we were able to assess the condi- tions of averaged 3,2 out of 5 (3 being “normal”), while two of the four adult females were thin (as was the yearling). Our first bear was on the pack-ice edge, July 7. A mature, handsome and healthy-looking male, but with a broken wrist. On July 8, four more adult males were found, all of them shy. On July 11, we had a superb experience with a female and her female yearling. Similarly, on July 12, we had a wonderful encounter with a large male. Both those encounters were in Murchisonfjorden. July 13 to July 20, both days inclusive, we spent roving back and forth between Wahlenbergfjorden and the southern end of Hinlopenstretet. During those eight days, we had 18 sight- ings of what was probably 15 different polar bears. Of those 15 bears, only three were females, and none of them had cubs. Some individuals were easily identifiable on photographs, and several of them were seen on multiple occasions. One adult female was seen near Gyldénøyane one day and again halfway to Wahlbergøya in Hinlopenstretet the next day. Another adult female was seen far south in Hinlopenstretet one day, but rediscovered at Idunneset in Wahlenbergfjorden three days later. A very young and immature male was seen several times over the entire week more or less on the same ice floe just off Gyldénøya.

Arctic Fox: The location of our first was a surprise to all, when it was spotted running east along the pack-ice edge at 80,9°N, on July 7. Still mostly in winter fur, but with dark face and paws. Our next fox was running along the beach of Palanderbukta on July 16, and finally we en- joyed prolonged views of two animals at Alkhornet on July 23.

Svalbard Reindeer: With our focus being so strongly on the ice, we hardly ever looked ashore on this voyage. Three times we did manage to register some reindeer along the shores, and we also spent some time on land with about 20 animals on July 23, at Alkhornet. www.NozoMojo.com [email protected]