Tangents to a sphere

Commercial Internet signals are relayed by satellites that are over the equator. Because they are in low-earth orbits, they are only 2° above the horizon at 79° North latitude. Any farther north of that & they disappear from view. Since most of our voyage was above 79°, the ship had no Internet connection most of the time. Fortunately, the iPhone stores draft messages until the next connection.
The most well-known tangent is, of course, that of the sun's rays. The Arctic Circle, at 66.5° North Latitude, is that point on the sphere of the Earth where the sun is visible for 24 hours on June 21. At 79 to 81°, the sun never sleeps in July so we had 24 hours of bright sunlight. By convention the pace of the day was kept on Norway time but it was necessary to force sleep at 10 or 11 in order to get some rest every day before breakfast wake up at 7. Some days there was an even earlier wake up because of a bear sighting so I found myself tired or at least sleepy most of the time. The frequent shore excursions were good because 3 to 4 hours of hiking in the 40° cold was enough to make me sleep very well. This was particularly true when the footing was loose gravel or ankle-deep water or mud. In addition, every shore trip was a "wet landing" from the zodiac & this added to the exposure to the elements.

The final day - July 15

In the night, in a slightly rough passage, the ship sailed around the Southern tip of Spitzbergen Island to another small fjord named Gnålodden.   The Norwegian word means "nagging" in English and it comes from the sound of the birds on the cliff above the shore.  Again, the flying birds filled the sky and the raucous noise of guillemots (a kind of auk called the thick-billed murre in North America) and kittiwakes was almost enough to drown out conversation.

We went ashore for one last nature hike, this time in relatively nice weather.
One feature of this site was an old trapper's cabin that was many years old but still used by Norwegian government workers when they need to plant weather monitoring equipment.  The cabin is very small and primitive but it does offer shelter from the elements and the bears.  Living there for the cold, dark Arctic winter must have taken, at least, dedication if not a little insanity.
On that theme, when we got back to the boat, a platform was set up between two zodiacs for the 35 guests who took the "polar plunge".  Yes, you guessed it, that means jumping into the ice-filled water.  I know you are wondering why I didn't do it since I am normally crazy enough to do something like this.  Don't worry; I'm saving my self for Antarctica.  There's always got to be something to look forward to.

See Photo Gallery

Edgeøya Island - July 14

The ship's intercom announced that the guides were checking out possible landing sites for the zodiacs on Edgeøya Island so we should stand by.  About 15 minutes later, we were told that there would be no shore excursion that morning because there were 40 knot gusts and the zodiacs were not considered safe for their cargo of 8 to 10 passengers.
Out on deck, the wind was howling and it was necessary to hold on to the railing to move around.  On shore, blowing snow was accumulating on the hills.
The ship continued South and by early afternoon had found a slightly protected cove so everyone suited up with parkas, hats, gloves and "muck boots" for an on-shore adventure.  The zodiac trip was a bit wet but we all made it safely.
This was not quite as interesting as the other hikes, partly because of the weather.  There were more bird cliffs and more evidence (scat) of reindeer but little else to recommend the place except for the opportunity for some exercise.  After 4 hours in the wind and cold, most everyone was ready to go back to the protection of the boat and the possibility of a soak in the sauna followed by another dinner of more-than-you-should-eat delicious food.

The ship offered two interesting sites.  One was a group of walrus lounging on the ice right in front of the ship.  The bow almost pushed them aside but they never moved.  Life in the Arctic is rough and it takes a lot of sleep to recover.

The excitement of the second site was partly a function of the amazing "Explorer" coupled with the phenomenal skill of Captain Oliver.  Ahead was the 60 foot tall wall of a glacier that seemed to "go on forever".  The captain cruised along the face until we came to a river of meltwater that tumbled into the sea.  He then maneuvered the boat and when we were pointed right at the river, he nudged it forward until the bow was touching the ice.  I was standing at the bow railing and it would have been possible to easily step onto the glacier.  Of course, getting back on the ship might not be so easy so I didn't try it.
See Photo Gallery

Polar bear #19 - July 13

The National Geographic Explorer is not an ice breaker, it is an ice pusher. Icebreakers are large heavy, powerful ships with hulls that are designed to ride up on the ice & then break it by the ship's weight. The hull shape then pushes the broken ice below the icepack so that a clear path is created. The nuclear-powered Russian ship that goes to the North Pole can make it's way through ice that is up to 5 meters thick.
The Explorer has a "v" shaped hull and a bulbous nose that projects just below the water line. It is designed to go through broken pack ice by pushing the pieces out of the way. The process is a bit noisy & progress is slow but eventually it makes headway.
There were many seals on the pack ice around the ship including ringed seals, bearded seals & hooded seals - all favorite polar bear snacks. When the call "Polar bear on the ice" went out over the intercom, 4 bears had been sighted including a mother with 2 cubs. This time we couldn't get very close without disturbing Mom while she was grocery shopping but we were able to watch. While the cubs rolled and romped a little way off, mom crouched next to a seal breathing hole like a giant cat. She remained motionless for 15 minutes waiting for the seal to reappear. This is called "still hunting" and works only if the bear chooses the right hole for each seal will typically use 10 to 12 such holes varying it's use pattern randomly. An experienced bear can smell which holes were used recently & guesses where the seal will appear next. Seals can stay underwater for half an hour & are very sensitive to vibrations thru the ice so the bear must be very patient.

After 20 minutes, the cubs got restless & mom felt they were too close so she abandoned the hole & walked downwind from a seal that was resting on the ice. When she came to some open water that was separated from the seal by a large patch of floating ice, she quietly slipped into the water while the cubs waited on the ice. It appeared that she was preparing for a maneuver called "aquatic stalking" where the bear swims under the ice & then pops up out of the water right in front of the seal. We observed for quite a while but did not see the conclusion of the hunt. To provide for herself & the cubs, mama bear has to capture a reasonably-sized seal about once a week while at the same time training her young to hunt on their own. We surmised that we could have witnessed a training exercise. All-in-all, pretty fascinating.

Polar bear #8 - Wednesday, July 13

On the National Geographic Expeditions website there is a video of a bear walking right up to the ship on the ice. It's really a cool movie but I expected it was a rare event. Up to today, the bears were a long way off (except for the swimmer) and only really viewable through the binoculars or spotting scope.
The ship headed south again thru the Hinlopen Strait and soon we were pushing thru the pack ice near Wilhelmøya Island. The naturalists & crew on the Bridge were constantly on the spotting scopes but it was one of the off-duty Phillapean kitchen crew who sounded the alarm. The announcement came over the ship's intercom, "Bear sighted on the ice" and as before, most of the passengers put on their parkas & hats, grabbed their cameras & binoculars & headed to one of the 4 forward decks. What happened for the next hour was a truly magical experience that the captain said later was a once-in-a-season event.
The shipped stopped in the ice & the young bear could be seen in the binoculars walking toward the ship. Every few steps he would sniff the air & taste it with his (or her) long tongue. Stefan, the bear expert, said that young bears are both very curious & without any experience with ships so as long as everyone was very quiet it was possible that he would approach fairly closely. Indeed, he eventually came close enough to sniff the hull. I was in the bow on the lowest deck leaning over the rail perhaps 15' above the bear & mostly holding my breath. This is what we came for!!!

Eventually someone on an upper deck dropped a camera tripod. The bear didn't jump but he lost interest & wandered off pausing occasionally to look back & sniff.
Later that day we saw 12 more bears but only #19 was close to being as interesting.
See Photo Gallery

Lågøya Island - Tuesday, July 12

The ship anchored off the low gravel island and we went ashore by zodiac and formed groups for either the long, medium or short hikes. Each is led by an armed Lindblad/National Geographic naturalist who is an expert in natural history. Stefan, the Swede has been doing this for 11 years. He has the most polar bear experience & seems to know how they think. Richard, the Brit is a birder thru & thru & seems to be able to identify everything. Kenneth, the Norwegian was a trapper here & knows every plant and Ian, the Welchman could be an actor or a poet as he can create a fascinating story from a single rock or bone.
The island is also a walrus haul out so we carefully walked around a large "pile" of grunting, scratching bulls. A quarter of a mile along a spit of land there was the remains of a walrus that had been thoroughly scavenged by various predators. Nonetheless, the skin, bones & skull each told their own detailed story as skillfully described by Ian.

As we returned to the main island we were "shadowed" by 5 walruses in the water. The 4 adolescents dove & snorted while the more senior representative rose up several feet out of the water to check us out. As they were only 20 feet away, we got to see them "up close & personal". Impressive.
The rest of the hike was focused on birds & flowers in the boggy inland area. Since the soil if frozen just under the surface, the melting snow does not sink in & creates ponds, puddles and, in some areas, "boot-sucking" mud. A 3-hour walk might not cover much ground but it is a lot of work. After being in the 40-degree wind, the sauna felt really good.
See photo Gallery

Seabirds cliff - Tuesday July 12

The ship left Moffen Island late in the afternoon and headed South thru the Hinlopen Strait between Spitzbergen Island & Nordaustlandet Island. In the middle of the night it was determined from the ice charts (published by the Norwegian government several times a day & available via satellite communication) that we would not be able to reach our intended destination so we went to plan "B". In the morning the ship was "parked" in front of a Kapp Fanshawe cliff where hundreds of thousands of guillimonts & kittiwakes made their nests on tiny ledges of the vertical cliffs that dropped to the sea. Because these are ground nesters, this location provides perfect protection of eggs & chicks from roaming arctic foxes. Even marauding Skua gulls are detered by the large number of nesters.
For 20 minutes, the ship remained bow first toward the cliff while the captain used a combination of rudders and bow thrusters to "crab" sideways along the cliff face so rhe "guests" could view & photograph the birds. Because this is a National Geographic cruise with a heavy emphasis on photography, the array of highest quality cameras & lenses should have really impressed the birds - or made them nervous about their privacy.
Finally, the ship headed North again bound for Lågøya Island.