Finally — Polar Bears!

“Gooooood morning, good morning”

It was supposed to be a late start to the morning. Lisa and I had gotten up a bit early because the ship had reentered the ice and it shook us awake. As we headed out to find breakfast we decided to grab our cameras and binoculars — just in case.

That was when we heard the familiar “good morning” announcement from the expedition director. He was earlier than usual. “We have spotted polar bears on the port side of the ship. Go to the outside decks. But, keep quiet so as not to scare them off.”

“Let’s go to the bridge,” Lisa suggested. So, we headed up one floor to the 7th deck. It was buzzing with excitement.

The crew had been searching for bears using their infrared cameras, telescopes, high mag cameras, and binoculars. They weren’t spotting anything. Then they got a call from the ship’s sous chef. He had gone out to one of the balconies for a break. He saw something on the ice. It was polar bears! While the high-tech-laden crew was looking right, he was looking left. Thank goodness he needed a break from preparing our lunch!

Suddenly, the morning was filled with oooohs, aaahs, and clicking cameras. It was a mama bear with her two cubs crossing the ice floes.

Polar bears are considered to be marine mammals (I thought that designation belonged only to whale and seals). This is because they spend most of their time in the water or on the ice and are dependent on the ocean for their livelihood.

While the polar bears appears white, if you shaved it, you would see it has black skin — and it would be pretty angry at you for shaving it. If you look closely at their nose area where their fur is thin, you can see that it is black. They weigh between 650 and 1750 pounds with the males being on the heavier end.

Polar bears are the apex predator of the arctic (shoutout to our 4-year old grandson Noa who loves apex predators). They primarily hunt seals, particularly the ringed seal. But, they will eat other mammals like walruses, beluga whales, or even reindeer. Their sense of smell is acute. They can small a seal in its 3-foot-deep den in the snow from over a mile away. They primarily hunt on sea ice high is why the disappearance of the ice is such a threat to polar bears. This is why they are called a vulnerable species.

Polar bears are quite dangerous to humans as well. Every time we go ashore, a scout crew goes first to ensure none are in the area. Then they carry guns for protection, just in case. We are instructed to stay with our guides for safety purposes, and because no one ants to have to shoot a bear.

As we watched the bears trod along the ice, they would hop in the water to swim to the next ice floe. They were constantly on the move. We followed them for quite a while.

As we sailed away from the bears we felt in awe of nature and the beauty of these creatures. That evening we celebrated our good fortune with a polar bear party. And, we toasted to the continued good health of these magnificent animals.