Polar Expedition Day 6
We woke this morning to fine weather, cruising down the
strait between Svalbard and Nordaustland with chunks of glacier ice floating
by. We were just finishing breakfast
when whales were spotted from the bridge.
Another flurry of activity as everyone put on warm clothes and headed on
deck.
Blue whales, you can tell by how far back the fin is, and how small it is, relatively speaking. There may be two of them, it’s hard to tell. I really wanted to get them blowing the spout
just out of the water. Chris’s advice
from last night about anticipating where the whale will go definitely paid off,
and I managed to capture some of it.
I am cussing not bringing a monopod, the big lens with
camera are fine to hold and use, but to hold it in position waiting for a shot
is a killer on your arms. I whipped
downstairs to get my tripod to use, but I find it awkward and it’s going to
take some practice. You’re supposed to
get it off the deck to shoot, less vibration, clearer pictures, but it’s hard
to do that without banging it on things.
Practice practice practice.
There are a couple on the trip from Oman, Shikhar and Neha.
Shikhar is a young guy who clearly has LOADS of money. He has all the gear, and has been on previous
trips with Chris. I think he’s a bit of
a tool, and he thinks he knows it all.
He was telling me the other day I should have my lens on a particular
setting, but based on what I read about it before I bought it, I didn’t think I
needed that (it was a vibration reduction setting used for shooting sports
action). So I checked with Chris and he
agreed with me. I don’t think I will
be taking any advice from Shikhar in future.
He also has the annoying habit of picking prime spot on the
deck and setting up his camera a tripod and then going back inside to play on
his computer. We then spend hours
stepping around it. Belinda moved it
yesterday out of the way. If you’re not
using the gear, get it out of everyone’s way.
I’m gob smacked at the expensive kit that is left on deck,
in the rain, on tripods, just waiting to be knocked or to fall over and crash
on the deck, or worse go over the side of the ship. I’m super protective of mine, and make sure
it is covered and tucked out of everyone’s way when it’s on deck. Anyway, that was a long ramble to get to my
point. When the whales were spotted this
morning, and I took a moment to check that everyone was there, I noticed Shakir
and his wife were missing, but I did not care, and did not take the time to run
get them. Ah, shame, he missed them.
Chris also commented that he likes to sleep late, so did not
bother to go get them. You gotta be on
deck to get the photos.
Well the whale excitement had barely died down when Rinie
announced another polar bear find. This
time it was on shore, so we piled into the zodiacs and headed off. We are getting this zodiac thing down pat
now, but it is a faff. You have to get your camera sling on before your life jacket but remember to fasten your life jacket belt with the camera end OUTSIDE the belt else you can't move your camera. Then your backpack with additional lenses (stowed in dry bags just in case) goes on top of all that. The captain is finnickerty about one person at a time on the stairs, and we are supposed to have both hands free for the hand rails, so it's a juggle sometimes, and a few trips up and down for someone to shuttle gear.
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| On a bear hunt |
This time it was a female bear, a big fat female that Rinie
recorded as a 4 on the fatness scale. She was wearing a transmitter. Once again, Rinie believes he knows this
bear. He saw a female in this same area
about a month ago, and she had a very dirty face, probably having buried her
face in a carcass and todays bear still had a half dirty face, so Rinie thinks
it’s the same bear. She was sleeping
when we first approached, so we stayed quite a way off shore until she looked
up and saw us, Rinie wanted us to be at a distance when she first became aware
of us.
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| sleeping bear |
Once she saw us, we moved a bit
closer. She didn’t seem too bothered,
munching at the vegetation amongst the rocks, but she eventually ambled off,
picking her way uphill amongst the rocks.
Neha got her revenge for missing out on the whale by being a pain in
the ass on the zodiac. She asked if she
could sit up front in the middle, Mick agreed but said she needed to be mindful
of not blocking others behind her. As
our zodiac approached the shore, my back was to the bear so I stood ready to
turn and kneel to take photos, and the bitch jumped into the space I left, so I
really had nowhere to go. I glared hard but she
didn’t immediately combust, so I just had to work around her. Natalie and Jaime noticed and made space
for me, which was kind. If I get the
chance to nudge her overboard I’m taking it.
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| location of bear siting |
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| heading back to the Polarfront |
We went back to the boat and had a late lunch, and
immediately headed back up on deck. We
are cruising through the Hinlopen strait and the scenery is stunning. The sea is like glass, there is no wind at
all, and the mountains and glaciers are reflected in the sea. The colours are amazing and we are snapping
furiously. It’s hard to take it all in
and we don’t feel like we can do it justice.
We spot a bearded seal lolling on the ice, and he poses nicely for us.
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| Bearded seal |
Then Rinie appears, he has spotted another bear, so we turn
in to take a closer look. This time it is on ice too far from shore. It is also hunting a seal that is also on the
ice. The bear's chances are not good, the ice
is low and there is nowhere for her to take cover to hide from the seal. But we decide to leave her in peace and
continue on her way.
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| Bear #4 |
The sun is getting lower in the sky and the light is
incredible, big ice bergs floating past and there is a noticeable increase in
the number of seals, birds, bearded seals and walruses. The glacial ice is melting in the sea and it
creates a new richer food source, which explains the increase in wild
life. It is also warmer, back to one
down jacket.
We eventually drag ourselves downstairs for dinner, Rinie
has pushed this to 8pm to give us more time with the light.
Dinner is fab, I am eating too much ! After dinner we go
back out but the light has changed, and we have to leave the deck so they can
drop anchor. We retire to the lounge,
and some of them play scrabble, others chat, others download photos.
Meals:
Lunch: mixed veggie salad, roasted potatoes, roast pork,
roast chicken, white chocolate and strawberry muffins
Dinner: Gratinated French onion soup, Aiglefin in white sauce, vegetable flan, red wine poached pears
Bear count: 4
number of photos taken today: 650+
Where we anchor for the night
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