Svalbard Bears
Posted May 2021 (archived)
I have to say that there is a lot more to Svalbard than just polar bears! The place is worth visiting for the scenery alone. But I guess polar bears are the iconic animals of the region and a lot of folk visit just to see them. They are incredible beasts and when placed in breathtaking landscape you have all the ingredients for a superlative wildlife experience.
We had many memorable encounters while we were there and I did more sketching than expected. One prolonged encounter was with a mother and two cubs.
The mother settled by a seal hole, her two cubs resting together at a respectful distance. The cubs spent some time playing and ended up sleeping curled together. Awwww ... so cute!
It proved to be a very long and fruitless wait. Eventually, she gave up and went to sleep herself.
After a certain time, she got up and strode away across the fast ice, collecting her cubs en-route and the group rapidly dwindled into the distance. The painting at the top of the page is a studio piece of this scene. Palandabukta is a stunning location, with melting fast ice, snow fields behind, and a glacier to one side. I changed the angle of view in the painting a little to include the glacier.
It was warm sunny t-shirt weather while we were there. The remaining fast ice was disappearing as we watched, slowly dissolving into a mosaic of
greenish-blue meltwater pools. With the departing hungry polar bear family it all made a glorious image, but one made bitter by the knowledge that these were
advanced unseasonal changes brought on by climate change. The arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth with dramatic and visual effect.
The fate of this wonderful place and the wildlife that lives here seems quite uncertain, and the consequences will eventually affect us all.
At Viebukta a huge male came to the edge of the pack ice to inspect us bobbing just offshore in our zodiac. I assume the driver was ready to go full throttle reverse if the bear decided to jump into the water! We seemed very close and the bear had enormous presence. It stared at us, or rather it seemed, right through us. There was a kind of blank indifference: I suppose its only interest was whether we might make a meal. It was an amazing and humbling experience. I've rarely felt so small and insignificant — just a lump of meat, that's all. After a bit of sniffing it strode off, its stride economical, yet immensely powerful. Polar bears have big bottoms, and they flick from side to side as they walk. You could call it a wiggle! But swagger would certainly be a more appropriate word.
A little more Svalbard
Although relatively accessible, Svalbard is true arctic wilderness. Mountains, glaciers, tundra and sea make for a stunning landscape. There is not a huge diversity of animal species, but all are very special and some are present in great abundance. There is always something to see. Close up, the tundra hides some beautiful alpine flora: to be explored on hands and knees!
Alkefjellet is an example of abundance. There are some other pictures of this place on the website, but here is one sketch done from a zodiac. These are huge jagged cliffs, home to 60 000 Brunnich's Guillemots. A great spectacle.
Another bird present in abundance is the diminutive Little Auk. It is quite a sight to watch flocks flowing like water around their cliff and scree nesting sites to a sound track of banshee screams.
Even the capital, Longyearbyen, is home to some great wildlife. It has the air of a frontier town and is well worth a day or two extra of your time. Down by the dog kennels is a good place to see Grey (Red) Phalarope. Very beautiful little waders. But look out too for arctic fox, barnacle geese, arctic terns, snow buntings, belugas and more.
Just don't venture beyond the polar bear signs. You've been warned!
