- Ship
- 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner
During the night, the ship steers far north towards the edge of the polar pack ice. Only time and weather will tell how far north, but the main target is just the ‘edge,’ possibly at 80 degrees north! This is the kingdom of the polar bear! As the pack ice retreats during summer, polar bears ride the floes north, as this is where their prey - the seals - resides. Bears who, for unfortunate reasons, do not ‘catch’ the ice moving north are stranded on Svalbard all summer and have to sustain on berries, eggs, and whatever whale cadavers they can find. A hard life indeed!
During the day, you can enjoy lectures on polar mammals, the environment, and culture in the Viking Theater. You can arrange a zodiac cruise if you get into the pack ice where the sea is usually calm.
A part goal of the day is also to reach the island Nordaustlandet, and hopefully, it is 7 (or 9, depending on how you count) smaller islands Sjuøyane in the far north of Svalbard. The almost vegetation-free, rocky islands located around 1000 km are more northern than mainland Norway’s famous Nordkapp.
Weather permitting, land and walk these most northern landmasses. The high Arctic islands are pretty barren, only with moss and lichens covering the stones. The birdlife is rich in this area, and some of the rarer gulls frequent these islands. So bring your binoculars.
Start cruising towards the Liefdefjord and its landscapes.