Svalbard reindeer
Svalbard reindeer were the first mammals we saw in the Arctic. We saw them when we did a shore landing at Skansbukta and then saw them again when we hiked at Kap Lee. Svalbard reindeer were almost hunted to extinction in the early 1900s, but dedicated recovery programs helped them repopulate. There are about 10,000 Svalbard reindeer alive today. Svalbard reindeer can reach speeds of up to 80 km at a sprint. They are generally sedentary, however, and shuffle along as they feed. Their weight varies considerably between seasons. In spring, after a hard winter, the average Svalbard reindeer male weighs 65 kg, fattening up to 90 kg by autumn after summer feeding. They have no natural predators. Starvation is their main enemy.
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| A reindeer grazing at Kap Lee |
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| Our first sighting of reindeer, seen at Skansbukta |
Arctic fox
Unfortunately, we had only one sighting of an Arctic fox. We saw it during a zodiac cruise in Hamiltonbukta up on the slopes of an ancient billion-year-old granite formation. It was a quick and agile little creature, blending in well with the dark rock, and being far away, it was a challenge to photograph it but I managed to capture some shots to remember it by.
The Arctic fox has the warmest pelt of any animal found in the Arctic, enduring temperatures as low as -70 °C. They do not hibernate and their fur changes colours with the seasons from brown in summer to a thick white one in winter. They are mostly solitary animals living on the tundra and pack ice. They hunt rodents, birds and even fish when they can and are also opportunistic scavengers. Arctic foxes mate for life.
In winter, prey can be scarce, prompting Arctic foxes to bring out their cheeky sides. They are known to follow in the footsteps of the Arctic’s premier predator, the polar bear, and feed on leftover scraps.
Walrus
Of all the wildlife we saw in the Arctic, the closest encounters we had were with walrus. They came swimming within a meter of the zodiac, completely unfazed by us. I suppose when you have rapier sharp tusks up to 90cm long and weigh up to 1.5 tonnes, you can afford to be pretty fearless. In fact, walruses have very few natural predators. Only an orca or a large polar bear would dare try to take on an adult and even then, very hesitantly.
Both male and female walruses grow long tusks. They use their tusks like ski poles, digging them into sand, snow and ice to help them haul their enormous bodies out of the freezing ocean waters. Plus, they’re great for smashing through tough ice from below, creating breathing holes for swimming walruses to catch a breath.
Their huge size comes from a steady diet of molluscs, crustaceans, and worms. Adults will sometimes hunt fish, while some huge adult males have even been recording stalking seals.
Sometimes, walruses will forage in places where there’s no nearby ice or land for them to haul themselves out onto for a nap. That’s why they have handy air sacs on their throats that inflate like pillows! Once their pouches are filled with up to 50 litres of air, walruses can doze off, snoozing in a vertical position and kept safe from drowning by their portable pillow. Genius!
Bearded seal
We had good sightings of bearded seals on two occasions. First, we encountered one lying on some sea ice when we went up to the far north. Then on the final day of our expedition, we came across two others enjoying the sun on an iceberg near a glacier in Johnfjorden. They were in a lazy mood and allowed us to get quite close on our zodiac.
Bearded seals are named for their long, white whiskers resembling a beard. They are the largest seal species in the Arctic, reaching a maximum length of 2.4 m and weight of 432 kg. They live for an average of 25 to 30 years.
Bearded seals prefer to forage in shallow water but have been seen at depths of nearly 500 meters. Bearded seal pups can swim and dive up to 200 m within hours of being born.
Individuals know to rest on single ice floes facing the water so they can escape quickly from predators. They are preyed on by polar bears, orcas and occasionally walrus.
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| Bearded seal lying on pack ice, seen from the ship as we cut through the ice on the 3rd day. |
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| Bearded seal lying on an iceberg, seen from our zodiac |
Ringed seal
We saw several ringed seal during our zodiac excursions. They'd always be swimming and come up momentarily to breathe, then disappear and come up again moments later in a completely different place that was impossible to predict. This made them somewhat challenging to photograph!
The ringed seal is the smallest of all living seal species. They are the only kind of Arctic seal that can cut and maintain breathing holes in ice thanks to special sharp claws on their fore-flippers. This sometimes results in them getting pushed away from their breathing holes by other seals or whales who can't create holes of their own. It' not fair when you're the smallest!
Ringed seals need to be cautious when they swim up to breathe at breathing holes as a polar bear may be lying in wait for them. They have learned to blow bubbles up their breathing holes to check for bears before surfacing.
Female ringed seals create lairs for their pups in the sea ice surface, which provide protection from extreme weather and predators.
Blue whale
We were having lunch in the dining room on the 4th day of our expedition when there was a call from Howard, our expedition leader, over the ship intercom to say excitedly that a blue whale had been sighted. We rushed to the outdoor viewing platforms and within minutes, saw it come up to breathe and then disappear again. For the next 20 minutes or so, the whale entertained us on both our port and starboard sides around the ship. Sometimes we got to see it blow huge plumes of water. Apparently, their blow can reach 12 meters high!
These enormous animals can grow up to 28m long and weigh up to 90 tonnes, while they produce possibly the loudest noise in the animal kingdom with low frequency sounds travelling hundreds of miles underwater. With only 3 to 12 thousand of these incredible mammals on earth; what an incredible sighting!
I unfortunately didn't get great photos (very hard to photograph when you never know where its coming up next and it doesn't stay up for long or show much of itself) but the photo below provides a wonderful memory of a very special encounter. I've always dreamed of seeing a blue whale.
