Day 6 - Bears, Bears, Bears

Three to be exact! We saw 3 polar bears on the ice today!!

You have to zoom up to see the bears in the photo. We didn't take this picture, it is from another passenger.

We opened the shade this morning, and for the first time since boarding the ship, we could see to the horizon, The fog was gone. And large ice bergs were visible.

The ship sailed to the edge of the sea ice for a major part of the day. Sea ice is the natural habitat for polar bears, and the captain did a great job positioning the ship so we'd have a chance to see a bear.

The first two bears were about a mile or more away and not easily visible with the naked eye. We were up on deck with our binoculars scanning the ice when one of the expedition team members saw the bears. We struggled for a bit trying to get them in our binoculars. Once we found them, they were exciting to watch. More than once, the larger of the two stood on its hind legs and seemed to be checking out the ship. We watched through our binoculars as, what we assumed were a mama and her cub moved across the icy sea. The second bear we saw was alone and further away but still impressive.

A feature of an expedition cruise is the daily recap and briefing. It's combined with a cocktail hour it is both informational and fun. Today we learned that polar bears spend most of their time on the ice. That they are the largest of the bear species and can run 25 mph. There are no survivor techniques for a polar bear attack, because if you get attacked by a polar bear, the bear will win.

Yesterday, when it was still foggy we learned about the Rasolute Desk. It was made from the oak timbers of the British Arctic exploration ship the H.M.S. Resolute and used by many US presidents including Kennedy and FDR. Interesting, but not nearly as fun as polar bears! I'm so happy the fog lifted.

They have snacks and champagne at the daily briefing.

It was cold on deck looking for bears so I wore my musher hat, because if you own a musher hat and you go on an arctic cruise, you have to take it and wear it! I was toasty warm. Everyone was wearing the red Silversea parkas we received when we boarded the ship. The red matching parkas added to the bear viewing festivities.

As we moved away from the sea ice and further north, the winds calmed and the water was still.