svalbard

After another beautiful night with the midnight sun, I get a few hours sleep before it is time for breakfast. BUT what a breakfast! While having muesli I see two different polar bears – that is luxury above all means. One of them, is like frozen to the ground, not moving a single bit, just beside a breathing hole for a seal. The white bear is hunting ringed seals. I see the seal coming up in an alternative breathing hole 15 metres from the large predator. But the polar does not move. After 15 minutes, the bear gives up and linger off. Not bad for breakfast time.

I am sharing the dogwatch with Anders, the captain of Explorer of Sweden. The dogwatch is between midnight and four in the morning. We head northward along the west coast of Svalbard, and because we are north of the polar circle the midnight sun is shining. We are now getting closer to where we might see polar bears.

It is a beautiful day and along the cliff edge east of Longyearbyen there are several swarms of dovkies (little auk). They look like black smoke flying back and forth in the sky. I am onboard the sailing vessel Explorer which will bring the expedition members to the Pacific through the Northeast Passage. We are about to head north to Ny-Ålesund and visit scientists to know the latest about climate changes.

The director of the WWF International Arctic Programme, Dr Neil Hamilton, is visiting Svalbard with a group of WWF colleagues to discuss WWF operations in the Arctic, and the critical importance of securing a major shift in political action over the coming year if the worst impacts of climate change are to be avoided. He […]