Tho’ there were some Polar Bears (ursus maritimus) in the distance yesterday, today we got to see 3 bears very close to the ship. Each of them were on a different ice floe… one had killed and eaten a seal and was literally lying on top of it. The other 2 bears were, I believe, hoping to share in the kill but that was not to be. In the end the 2 bears with nothing to eat ended up in the water together swimming and playing like siblings which, I suppose they might have been. The biologists with us said they’d never seen this behaviour and were completely surprised at the whole situation. For me it was just a thrill to see these extraordinary animals in their own habitat and they did not seem to be disturbed in any way by our ship which respectfully and slowly crept up on them and then left them in peace.

Tho’ my photos are grainy and not very good I hope you can see how incredibly close they were and imagine how wonderful it was to see them.

Just below the 2 bear pics is a shot of the chart showing where we are (as of a few hours ago) and where we’ve travelled from. It’s 11 PM but still light… sweet dreams!

Our route since leaving Greenland & Pond Inlet