Showing posts with label bear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bear. Show all posts
Fugløya: Mountaineering Bear
Sunday, 10 July (Part II)
Following our landing at Smeerenburg (post here), we had free time aboard the ship while the remaining two groups were out exploring. We used the time to check out the bridge.
In our typical roles: Mui, the driver ...
... Erin, the navigator.
The day’s plan called for exploring nearby Raudfjorden after lunch. Those plans went out the window when a polar bear was spotted on Fugløya (Bird Island). How ironic! Earlier in the 
While the ship positioned into Fuglesongenfjorden (Bird Season Fjord), we enjoyed a leisurely lunch. By the time the noon meal was over, Silver Explorer was at anchor. Since we’d gone out first for the morning landing, we had time to kill on board before it was our turn to take to the zodiacs. We hoped that the weather would change for the better while we waited; but no, the fog and rain stayed put, and the damp weather increased the chill factor. All of which made for a particularly uncomfortable zodiac ride since the captain — once again — anchored a considerable distance off shore. (We’ve heard from a reliable source that the ship is operating without a bow thruster during this voyage. That said, not sure how that’s a problem in deep water with no ice anywhere in sight.)
Traveling through the light fog, the zodiacs disappear around the headland to the right.
The first two groups had a great sighting of a polar bear snacking on some meat near the shoreline. It turns out, the meat had been left there by the passengers of a small boat to lure the bear to where they had set up photographic equipment. We saw none of that — no close bear sighting; no cameras; no boat nearby.
This is the scene the first group saw.
(image sent to me by my Silversea cruise specialist.)
Note how pristine the snow is in the above image. And so is the bear. Not a drop of blood anywhere. I’ve seen video footage and still shots of a polar bear kill. They are not fastidious eaters. Were this a “natural” kill, the snow and the bear would have been stained crimson with blood and gore, and I’m sure there would have been more of the prey’s carcass lying about as well.
You want to know what we saw? We saw a creamy dot in the high reaches of the steep, rocky slope behind the shoreline. Thanks to my long lens, I was able to get some reasonable shots of the bear, but to the naked eye, it looked more like a patch of snow than a bear. Here’s what’s ironic about seeing what we termed “mountaineering bear.” While we were waiting our turn to go out in the zodiac, Robin said that if the bear decided to move on, the steep cliff would force it to follow the coastline since it had nowhere else to go. Hah!
Polar bear in search of small auks nesting amongst the rocks.
An explanation or two about the collage. Note the glacier’s edge in the top right photo. On our way to the sighting, Uli stopped the boat here briefly so that Karolina, our bear guard, could point out the bear’s footprints where it crossed the glacier and then belly-slid down the left side (hard to see; so I marked the bear’s path with a dotted line). The bottom right picture is a shot of what’s left of the lure used to draw the bear to this spot. Again; incredibly pristine, so no chance this was a natural kill IMHO.
With the bear so far up the slope, we asked Uli to drive us over to Svitjodbreen for a closer look at the glacier instead. He did so, but it was raining hard and I decided not to risk getting the camera wet, so no photos. By the time we returned to the ship, we were chilled to the bone, but still dry under our rain gear. A cup of thick and creamy hot chocolate in the Panorama Lounge sure hit the spot.
The art of herding a bergy-bit with a zodiac.
The two afternoon briefings had a common theme — currents: air and sea. It was during this session that we learned how driftwood, which originates in Siberia, ends up in Svalbard, located well above the tree line. Then, Robin outlined plans for tomorrow. We’re going to be continuing south along the coast of Spitsbergen. To be expected since we have two days left before our voyage comes to an end. If the weather cooperates, tomorrow we’ll be going for a glacier hike and visiting a site of considerable historic significance.
Tonight was our farewell cocktail and dinner. It was scheduled a day earlier than usual, because the original itinerary called for a long day and a late landing tomorrow. We were invited to dine with Martin Blanar, the Silver Explorer Hotel Manager, and the Rafaelis, a couple from Israel. Martin was a charming host and we had a very pleasant evening discussing topics of interest to one and all. I ordered a selection of dishes from the intermezzo section of the menu — mushroom soup, salad garnished with fried zucchini, and spinach cannelloni. All were excellent. With lobster on the menu, there was no doubt what Mui would be having as his main course. Dessert for me was vanilla ice cream, lightly drizzled with chocolate sauce; Mui pronounced the chocolate crème brûlée yummmmmy.
The sun has broken through the clouds; the blog post is completed. I’m going to bundle up and go out for a walk around Deck 6. A bit of fresh air will do me good. Besides, after all the socializing I’ve been doing today, an introvert like me needs some quiet-time. I’m sure to find it on the outside decks — after all, it’s almost midnight.
Liefdefjorden: Party Crasher
Friday, 8 July (Part V)
Bundled up in our layers, we accepted Robin’s invitation to attend the impromptu al fresco cocktail party laid out on Deck 6 aft. Even though the sun was playing an aggressive game of hide and seek, it was nice to be outside to enjoy the Arctic scenery as Silver Explorer made its way back through the patches of ice covering the water between Liefdefjorden and Woodfjorden.
Can you guess the uniform of the day?
My perch on Deck 7 provides a bird’s eye view of the scenery and the goings on below me.
I was wandering around with my camera, taking photographs, when I saw Akademik Sergey Vavilov, an expedition ship operated by Quark, nosed into the ice. On the bow were yellow-jacketed passengers looking out into the distance. Hmmm — a sure sign of a sighting, but what?
So what’s captured the attention of the other ship?
No sooner did I signal Mui to get his camera and follow me to the bow that Robin came on the P/A system to announce that there were three or four bears on the ice. They were off in the distance, however, so it didn’t look like we were going to stop. Good thing we didn’t. There was something better just ahead. Not far off the edge of the ice was another bear waiting for us. What a great sighting — the one that I had been waiting for — the one of the great isbjørn (ice bear) surveying his domain from the sea ice.
The ship slowed down considerably as passengers rushed to rim the starboard railings like a long, red banner. With shallow water on one side, and ice on the other, the Captain had no choice but to stay on course, taking us right by the polar bear. The bear didn’t seem bothered by the proximity of the ship and stayed put to give us an excellent sighting. Then, bored with us, he sat up, sniffed around, got on his feet, and waddled away, giving us a perfect “the end” shot! (And yes, though the reflections weren’t perfect, I did get to double my pleasure.)
With the bear moving in one direction, and the ship in another direction, it wasn’t long before the bear was a small, creamy-white dot on the horizon. On that note, the bow area emptied just as quickly as it had filled up. Mui and I stayed put until the ship picked up speed. With that speed came a wind-chill that was more than we could bear — that’s what I call a pun :-))).
Ice-free water is just ahead.
Glaucous gulls mirrored on still waters.
A great cocktail party was followed by a great dinner, during which a good deal of the conversation centered around the party crasher. We shared our table with Drs. Christina and Bob, and a couple hailing from Aberdeen, Scotland. An excellent French onion soup, followed by penne with pesto and grilled red snapper, served me quite well. The more adventurous Mui started off with fried frog legs, and continued with a small green salad and chateaubriand cooked to perfection. We’re still debating whose dessert was better: my multi-berry sorbet or his chocolate marquise. I think we’d better call it a tie or neither of us is going to get any sleep.
Since we did not have a recap and briefing, we’re not sure what’s planned for tomorrow. Whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll enjoy it.
P.S. Tonight we REACHED 80°03’53” NORTH, putting us within 10 degrees of the North Pole. At least that’s the latitude I noted on the navigation channel when we returned to the cabin. There were no announcements to mark the occasion. Seeing as how we now seem to be headed south into a straight that separates Spitsbergen from Nordaustlandet, the second largest island in the Svalbard archipelago, that may well end up being our furthest north for this voyage.
Woodfjorden: There Be Bears on the Ice
Friday, 8 July (Part II)
In the meantime, we watched another expedition ship (later identified as the Quest), cruising along the shoreline, taking a close look at one of the many glaciers flowing down to the edge of the water. Why we were sitting so far out, and they were so far in was a hotly debated mystery amongst the passengers who were on the outside decks. My guess is that site limitations required that we keep our distance until that ship left the area.
We had an absolutely gorgeous day for our zodiac outing, with blue skies and sunshine replacing the usual overcast. It was nice seeing the beauty around us in a different light. Once in the zodiac, we zipped around to the far side of the ice and nosed into the edge of the fast ice to give our viewing and photography platforms a bit of stability.
The red coats scour the area for the ice master.
The bears, though at a distance, were a bit closer than the first bear we saw on our voyage. And they were on the move. My guess is they were on the hunt, sniffing around breathing holes for seals, but their prey obviously managed to give them the slip as we didn’t actually see them catch their lunch.
Can you see the creamy bear dots in this icescape?
(hint: look where the mountains and the ice meet in the center of the image.)
Bears on the move … with the help of my long lens and a bit of cropping.
I wonder how high I can jump?
While we were in the zodiacs, those on the ship were having their own bear sighting. For a moment, we thought the bear was going to go right up to the Silver Explorer. In the end, though, it veered off in its quest for capturing a seal instead.
Will the bear go up to the ship? Or not?
OK, so this was a much better encounter with polar bears in their icy world. But once again, for me, the magnificent scenery around us and being up close and personal with the ice were the winning aspects of our zodiac cruise.
Glaucous Gull
Breathtakingly Beautiful.
You think I've got enough equipment around my neck? There's still one camera in
my dry bag, but I thought that would be overkill!
Mui was on the zodiac cruise, too. And he looks like he’s enjoying himself.
The image was naturally monochromatic, so I took away what little color there was
to create a B&W photograph.
Black-Legged Kittiwake
Our hour-long cruise had to end eventually. That’s OK; there was something really fun waiting for us back aboard Silver Explorer. But that’s for another post …
Waiting our turn to disembark the zodiac, we keep a watch out for bears on the ice.
Hallo Bay’s Arthritis Bear Finds a Home in Virginia
Wednesday, 1 December
Several weeks ago, I came home to a surprise. There was a tube mailer propped up against the garage door. I hadn’t ordered anything; nor had Mui (not to my knowledge, at least), so what could it be?
Imagine my delight when I opened the tube to find a canvas print of the Hallo Bay bear that we had dubbed “Arthritis Bear” because he seemed to have some difficulty walking.
Welcome to Virginia Arthritis Bear!
The print is a thank you from Captain Lee of the Single Star. Shortly after we returned from our bear viewing trip on the Single Star, Lee had asked if he could use some of my photographs for promotional purposes. It was my pleasure to share my images and I told him to take his pick; Arthritis Bear made the cut.
From my desk, I get to see Arthritis Bear all day.
There was no question in my mind that I’d be framing the print. Where to hang it was the dilemma. In the end, I decided to take it to my office at work so I could visit with Arthritis Bear all day long! Considering the long hours I’ve been putting in recently, I’m glad he’s been there to keep me company.
Photo op with my buddy!
Lee has a 120 x 96 inch (3 x 2½ meter) print of the photograph for the Single Star booth. Arthritis Bear has already been to one travel show; I understand he was very popular with the kids. Next, he’ll be traveling to London, England.
Not every bear can say that he’s an international traveler!
AWCC: Not So Wild
Wednesday, 25 August: Part II
The moose encounter on Portage Highway helped us decide instantly what to do next on our way to Anchorage — see more animals. Since wildlife sightings are a matter of being in the right place at the right time, we stacked the deck in our favor by visiting the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC), located not far from the intersection of the Portage and Seward highways.
Google Maps image showing the location of the AWCC (red marker).
(note location in relation to portage Lake and byron glacier trail)
On our way to the AWCC we stopped to check out an area studded with dead trees. I mentioned the 1964 megathrust earthquake, commonly known as the Good Friday Earthquake, in a previous post, but I didn’t say much about it. The magnitude 9.2 temblor lasted 5 minutes. (Take it from someone who’s experienced lesser magnitude earthquakes; it must have felt like an eternity.) 128 people were killed in the earthquake; most from the tsunami that reached as far as the west coast of the US and Hawaii. In fact, 15 of the tsunami deaths were in California.
The earthquake was, and still is, the strongest recorded in the US, and the second most powerful one in the recorded history of the world.
The 1964 earthquake resulted in a vertical displacement of land ranging from
38 feet (11½ m) of uplift to 10 feet (3 m) of Subsidence Relative to sea level.
The AWCC is a nonprofit organization that was established in 1988 by a man named Mike Miller. What started out as a project to save Alaska’s wood bison from extinction has now become a wildlife care center for orphaned, injured, and abandoned animals. Those that are rehabilitated are released back into the wild; others are given a permanent home at the center and become ambassadors for their species.
This was not our first visit to the AWCC; we spent an afternoon there in 2001. That was before I was a camera-carrying traveler, so I was happy to make a return visit to not just photograph the animals, but also to support a worthwhile cause. (Admission $10/adult.)
[map scanned from the AWCC brochure]
Most of the animals were out and about in their spacious enclosures, but with few exceptions, they weren’t very active — to be expected on a warm summer day. For one frisky musk ox bull, though, the mid-day temps weren’t much of a deterrence. He seemed to take delight in charging every male visitor that approached the enclosure, giving them a healthy adrenaline rush. The keeper I spoke to was surprised when I told her that the bull seemed to be singling out male visitors. Perhaps he saw them as competition for the cow whose favors he was trying to curry!
Musk Oxen
the bull is sniffing around the much smaller female, but despite his
attempts to mate, she’s not giving him the time of day.
Musk Ox Calf
(orphaned; rescued from deadhorse IN June 2010; NAMED MUKLUK FOR THE
BP DRILLING PAD WHERE HE WAS FOUND; CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY)
Is Mr Elk trying to tell me something?
young female elk
homer is the dominant male in this small elk herd.
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Left: mum patiently waits for her two-month old calf to finish nursing.
right: necking is allowed!
Homer bathes his antlers in the cool creek water.
getting ready for date night maybe?!?
Elk Love? Alas, she doesn’t reciprocate his affections.
One of two brown bears brought to the AWCC as cubs after the
mother was shot by a resident of willow.
(the sow apparently killed a moose in the man’s backyard and he was
afraid that it would attack his dogs next)
AAH! the sweet smell of grass.
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Caribou stag
Caribou antlers grow through spring and summer and start to harden around
the end of august when the animals start rubbing the velvet off the bone.
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Caribou shed their antlers every year; that’s an impressive one-year rack.
Snickers is a 5-year old porcupine that was once someone’s pet.
Hugo, the female grizzly, was nowhere to be found on this visit. In June 2001, having been rescued as a cub from the Hugo Mountains just six months before, she was a relative newcomer to the AWCC. She had delighted us with her antics as she tried to claw her way to a piece of salmon encased in a thick chunk of ice. We’d been looking forward to seeing how she had grown, but it wasn’t to be. Maybe next time!
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