During the night the ship will steer far north towards the edge of the polar pack ice. How far north only time and weather will tell, but the main target for us is just the ‘edge’, possibly at 80 degrees north! This is the kingdom of the polar bear! As the pack ice retreats during summer, polar bears ride the floes north, as this is where their prey - the seals - resides. Bears who for unfortunate reasons do not ‘catch’ the ice moving north, are stranded on Svalbard all summer, and will have to sustain on berries, eggs and whatever whale cadavers they can find. A hard life indeed!
During the day, lectures on polar mammals, environment and/or culture can be enjoyed on board in the Viking Theatre. Should we get into the pack ice where the sea usually is calm, our captain will cruise slowly between the floes and look for wildlife.
A part goal of the day is to also reach the island Nordaustlandet and hopefully its 7 (or 9, depending on how you count) smaller islands Sjuøyane in the far north of Svalbard. The almost vegetation-free, rocky islands are located around 1000 km more northernly than mainland Norway’s famous Nordkapp.
Weather permitting, we will land and walk these most northern landmasses. The high Arctic islands are quite barren, only with moss and lichens covering the stones. The birdlife is rich in this area and some of the rarer gulls frequent these islands. Definitely bring your binoculars.
At the end of the day, we will start cruising towards the Liefdefjord and its landscapes which we will see tomorrow.