Southern Hinlopen Strait
It’s a shade before midnight (despite the full presence of the Arctic sun) and less than an hour ago we were awoken by those two long sought after words: “Blue Whale.” Over the PA system we were urged out of bed to watch as the largest animal ever recorded on this blue planet of ours swam a mere 100 meters from the starboard beam of our ship.
This well attended sighting was preceded by yet another incredible day of wildlife sightings and a second chance to scour the Arctic tundra for terrestrial life. On the eastern coast of Spitzbergen a small cape juts into the Hinlopen Straight called Kapp Freden. Known for its resident Arctic fox population, this area has been free of snow long enough to support numerous mirror-like melt pools all rimmed with thick mats of dark green mosses and a scattering of purple Saxifrage – tiny Arctic flowers. While the local fox population was nowhere to be seen, there was a much less expected sighting made on the far end of the cape. For reasons yet unknown a completely intact polar bear carcass was found – apparently unmolested by other scavengers – and still well endowed with a thick coat of creamy, off-white fur. Why or how this specimen was able to avoid the thorough dissection so common in a land of opportunists remains speculation on our part.
What we do know is that the remainder of the day could not have been orchestrated any better. Following our landing yet another polar bear sighting was recorded (for those not keeping track of this voyage we spotted 22 bears yesterday alone!!), this time offering a look at a mother and her two large cubs. What was unique about this sighting was the presence of a radio collar around the mother’s neck. While an increasing sight in these areas, it is no less a conflict of interests. We have learned so much about bear behavior and distribution with these transceivers over the years but that fact makes it no less startling to see a wild animal with such a distinct human footprint.
If the trip’s blue whale addition was not enough, we finally got that perfect look at a large group of walrus. Under striated blue/white skies and utterly calm reflective conditions we approached these massive pinnipeds in their two opposing states – that of agile, confident swimmer and that of stagnant mass of blubber. Hauled out on an ice flow, the latter group let us approach to within tens of meters – allowing us up-close looks at their Saber-toothed tiger-like tusks and rotund body structure.
With two more days left in the trip the hardest part of our job as naturalists will be to find things we haven’t seen yet. This is nothing to complain about, just a testament to an absolutely incredible wildlife trip complemented nicely with stunning weather.
