Svalbard Update: Bears, Seals and Minke Whales…

After our first polarbear encounters a couple of days we have now met a total of 14 during a 2 day period. Most we have met while we paddled by, while 3 have been while we were on land at our camp a couple of nights ago. Those we met while in the boats gave us the best opportunities to get quite close too them. It is incrdible to watch these animals casually strolling or swimming totally relaxed in their turf. In contrast, we are very aware that their environment can be deadly to us in a few minutes as we have already seen with the seas, wind, cold that continue to change in minutes.

After 2 days of many bear sightings we were on higher alert and had found a camp site with several hundred meters of open ground to give us plenty of warning of approaching bears. We also decided to have one of the team on bear watch all night. The first bear made an appearance several hundred metres from camp an hour after our arrival. Per Thore and Petter headed out in his direction and sent him away with a warning flare.

It was then decided that we were possibly camping on a popular path for the local bears, and that if we had another bear visit we would pack up camp and move 25 km’s across the fjord. Sure enough a couple of hours later (12.30am) camp was woken by bear watch and another bear was heading our way in the other direction from the first. The boys sent the second bear away, but he needed more convincing than the first (1 flare plus several warning shots overhead). So at 2.00am we paddled out from camp under blue skies and an oily sea.

We had an amazing 4 hours paddling under the midnight sun. We were visited by many seabirds, a couple of seals and a pod of minkie whales before making camp just just inside Widjefjord.

When we woke 8 hours later we got news from home that a couple of fellow paddlers who were attempting to circumnavigate the whole Svalbard group had been rescued about 250 km’s further east after one had been attacked in his tent and dragged 30 meters before being shot by his mate. The latest is that he is in a serious but stable condition in Tromsø hospital. Our thoughts are with these guys and mood in our camp is a little subdued. We are in an unforgiving environment.

We write this update while taking shelter in a hut 30km’s inside Widjefjord as 15meter/second blow from the south. We’ll be here until the wind drops.

“Team Lost”

Widjefjord North-West Svlbard