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Photographing and spotting Polar Bears around Spitzbergen13/07/2007 00:00:00
As a dry land wildlife encounter the Polar bear occupies the highest echelon in the pantheon of greats. Included in this triumvirate of individual encounters would be the Bengal tiger and the Mountain Gorilla. The tenet that they all share is they are all endangered For anyone who watched that harrowing scene in Planet Earth as that lone bear struggled for the fall line along that torturous crackling sea ice can not help but feel sympathy for this magnificent marine predator. If ever anyone needed a graphic reminder of what indelible imprint global warming is doing to the planet they should look no further than this, especially those Chelsea mothers who take their children 500 metres to school in their fuel guzzling mud-free 4WD.  The Svalbard archipelago is home to several hundred bears and the most effective way to unlock their accessibility is onboard a small ice rated vessel (usually Russian). Itineraries are meaningless here due to the pack ice which is as capricious as the weather, but those expecting the mountainous seas of the Drake Passage will be pleasantly surprised by serene conditions. Whether it is possible to circumnavigate the whole archipelago or to navigate the Hinlopen Strait is really immaterial as bears can be found anywhere. >It is important that people are not precious about sightings, sometimes they are a mile away, plying their lonely beat up steep scree slopes, although sometimes very tolerant ones can be enjoyed feasting on ringed seals close to the zodiacs. What is imperative to understand is that it is their back yard: all shore excursions are escorted by experienced guides with firearms, although it is a rarity for these to ever come off the shoulder. However respect is due, the narrow season of June, July and August is directly after the bear’s long hibernation. They appear, often with cubs, low in bodyweight and hungry; very hungry. A brightly swaddled tourist could easily be viewed as a Gore-Tex clad snack.  What really makes a difference for wildlife enthusiasts and photographers alike is the 24 hour daylight. Ice patterns vary enormously, the constant daylight does not. It is not uncommon to find oneself scouring the horizon for Ursus Maritimus at midnight. This last year, due to the absence of much sea ice, sightings were outstanding, as white bears are easier to locate on land as oppose to ice and snow. Mother's with cubs, bears feeding on sperm whale carcasses and digesting seals in front of sapphire blue glaciers amounted to a superb inventory of sightings. Spitsbergen however is much more than just bears; it is a polar wasteland without parallel where vast flocks of little auks run the gauntlet to the ocean, below the sinister holding patterns of voracious Glaucous gulls. It is about taking a Zodiac ride next to vertiginous cliffs teeming with guillemots clinging to precarious perches and of course it is about walruses - these roly-poly leviathans that were butchered to the brink of extinction before enjoying a healthy renaissance. Seen on foot, by inflatable and small ice vessel it is probably not only some of the finest wilderness in the northern hemisphere, for UK visitors especially, it is also the closest. What it is not, is Antarctic with bears - nothing compares to the scale of the South just as nothing compares to the prices down South.
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