Animals,  Coast & seascapes,  Svalbard

Arctic diary six: sea ice and polar bear

September 23, 2025 / 57 Comments

The ice was here, the ice was there,

The ice was all around,

It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,

Like noises in a swound!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, quoted in the Ocean Explorer’s daily programme

When we decided on August for our Svalbard visit I wasn’t sure whether we would see any pack ice. As the summer progresses the ice retreats northwards, beyond the area our itinerary was scheduled to cover.

But as I said in my introduction to this series, on an expedition cruise the planned itinerary can often be altered because of weather conditions, wildlife viewing opportunities or other factors. At his briefing on the previous day Ryan had told us that he’d persuaded our captain to head north today in search of the edge of the ice.

We plan to explore the Arctic Pack Ice Edge

One of the dominant features of the Arctic is the pack ice. In the central Arctic Basin, the pack ice remains throughout the year. Around the periphery of the Arctic Ocean and in the marginal seas, the ice forms and melts annually. The ice edge is a critical habitat for numerous species. For many marine mammals, the sea ice offers protection from predators, a surface for resting or bearing young, and a potential area for polar bears to hunt. Today we will be exploring the edge of the Arctic pack ice and all the marvellous features which have evolved with it, such as the scenery and the wildlife.

From the Ocean Explorer’s daily programme

The sea ice

The first part of the morning was spent in open waters, with little to see. But around mid-morning we started to see the line of sea ice on the horizon. You can see this in my feature photo. We grabbed cameras and parkas and headed up to the observation deck. By this time a lot of the passengers were out there as well as most of the expedition team guides. The movement of the ice as we watched from the edge was mesmerising, almost as if it were breathing. And it was completely unlike the icebergs we had seen elsewhere, each piece being flat and a similar depth to the others.    

  • At the edge of the sea ice
  • Sea ice and Arctic tern
  • Following the edge of the sea ice

I’ve muted the sound on this video as there was a lot of excited chatter around me! But it should give you a sense of how the sea ice moved.

At the edge of the sea ice

We could see two smaller ships ahead of us in the ice and as we drew level with them our Ocean Explorer turned into the sea of ice. We hurried to the prow to watch and listen as we carved a way through.

Sea ice and distant ships

This time I’ve left the sound on so you can hear the noise as the ship encountered a larger piece of ice from time to time.

Moving through the sea ice

After a while we came to a stop and people started to say that there was a polar bear out near one of those other ships. We zoomed in with our cameras, and scanned the scene with binoculars, and eventually saw a smudgy yellow/grey object moving among the ice! OK we thought, we’ve seen a polar bear. Then I overheard someone say there was a second bear near the other ship, so I tried to make that one out.

Polar bear approaches!

At first I could see nothing there but ice. Before long however I could pick out the bear and saw he was coming in our direction. I followed him with my camera, taking photos at intervals as he approached.

Spot the polar bear! (taken on full zoom)
  • Polar bear approaching
  • Polar bear approaching
  • Polar bear approaching
  • Polar bear approaching

Gradually I realised that he was so close I no longer needed to be on full zoom, then barely on zoom at all. Before I knew it, he was immediately in front of the ship. The main photography challenge now wasn’t distance, but the shadow of the ship. At one point he was so close that he was hidden from view.

Polar bear by the ship

He made his way along the port side to the stern, and so did most of us! Expedition team members, also thrilled at the encounter, told us he was a young male, probably just a couple of years old

Polar bear by the ship

After a short while there, and more photos, he started to return the way he had come, stopping for a scratch as he departed!

  • Polar bear leaving
  • Stopping for a scratch!
  • Polar bear leaving

The ship let out a collective ‘ahhh’, as we all came back down to earth.

Celebrating the encounter

We dropped off our parkas, hats and gloves then went to lunch. We were joined by one of the expedition team, Kelly, a kayaking coach, who was nearly as excited by the morning’s events as we were. Although not experienced as an Arctic guide, she reckoned it would perhaps only be once in a season that a bear would approach so close to the ship. And even that might have been overly optimistic as Nicola, the very experienced expedition manager, told me later it was ten years since she’d seen one approach a ship so closely!

We lingered in the sea ice for much of the afternoon and while nothing so exciting happened, that didn’t matter.

Sea ice patterns

The team produced a sign indicating how far north we were (82°24.7′N, the furthest north the Ocean Explorer had ever been as up to now she had only been used for Antarctic expeditions) and one of the guides dressed up as a polar bear for a bit of silliness.

We had gone off the chart and on to the ceiling of the ship’s lounge!

Mid-afternoon there was bubbly served in the observation lounge as well as sandwiches and cakes. The whole ship was in party mood!

Before dinner there was the usual recap and briefing. We saw some of Kris’s excellent photos and Ema gave us a presentation about the lives and habits of polar bears.

Long-tailed Skua @kristopherandres
Polar bear paw @kristopherandres

There was another talk after dinner, on sailors’ slang, but after the exciting day we decided to skip this in favour of a quiet evening in our cabin, sorting our many photos, as the ship made her way back south. And while I feel the need to apologise for the large number of polar bear shots in this post, please believe me when I say that this is just a fraction of the number I took!

Note:

By law in Svalbard it is prohibited to disturb, attract, or pursue polar bears unnecessarily. From January 1, 2025, new distance requirements for polar bears were introduced: you must keep at least 300 meters away from a polar bear. Between March 1 and June 30, the requirement is at least 500 meters. If you spot a bear closer than the legal distance, you are obligated to retreat. So why were we able to observe this bear so closely. There are two reasons, as I understand it. From a legal point of view, we were outside the jurisdiction of Svalbard at this point. And from a polar bear protection point of view, to start up the ship’s engine and retreat would have caused our young visitor much more distress than simply staying still and (relatively) quiet.

I visited Svalbard in August 2025; this is an account of our adventures on Saturday, August 9th

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