There are rumours of a washed up whale carcass in the North East of Spitzbergen. From last year that is. But still a good chance of seeing a polar bear.
Now for some mind numbing trivia. We all know a whale is big. A single dead Bow or Fin whale, both marginally smaller than a Blue whale, can sustain 20 Polar bears for a year. And a polar bear is as large as a good size horse, just with sharp, pointy teeth and claws. Digest that.
Anyway, we motored to the area in Lomfjorden with a good chance of a nice walk, and a slight chance of seeing one of the 3 – 5000 bears in Svalbard.
Upon the sight of a creamy white smudge on one of the fjords hillsides the walk was cancelled and the ship parked. After a while the smudge moved and turned into 2 different sized blobs. A mother Polar bear and her cub. A short Zodiac ride to within a few hundred metres of the shore let us see the two of them enjoying a snack of very well aged whale, barely giving us a glimpse.
Polar bears, tick. No guards needed.
