In Search of Isbjørn.

[Lisbeth]

At the end you must have been fed of with salmon Lovely sandpiper

[Mel]

Erdinger? Oh, what the heck... the scenery and the wildlife is
brilliant so why care about the drinks.

At least the Barnacle and the Guillemot are not completely unfamiliar to me.

[Jillinflorida]

Loving the report so far. Pictures, dialog and scenery marvelous. (and can one get sick of salmon? I wouldn't) Look forward to hearing the next installment.

[Flutterby]

What an experience Dewi!!! The scenery is beautiful, even though totally alien to me, lovely birds and yummy food!! No wonder you put on weight! -O

[Bush Brat]

[Dewi]

Thanks for the comments PRWIN, Nan, Lisbeth, Mel, Jillinflorida, Flutterby & Bush Brat.

[Dewi]

As we approached Danskoya, the mountains were always in view and another Coastguard ship passed close by.





Glaciers were seen and photographed as we sailed on by.





And as the ship anchored in the channel, the binoculars were trained on a white blob on the shoreline.



Whoo-hoo, my first Isbjørn in the wild.

We boarded the Zodiac and headed towards shore where the bear was wandering slowly along the tide-wrack.



As we got closer, it ambled off up the hill in a leisurely gait.



I was in heaven watching this magnificent animal as it went about it's buisness. It did not seem bothered by our presence, or the noise of the outboard engine and we crused up and down the bay taking the scene in and marvelling at this apex predator. The bear eventually settled down and went to sleep on a rocky ledge, so we went ashore to inspect the Island's historical significance. This was the scene of Andrée's ill fated attempt to reach the North Pole by baloon in 1897. Those of you who are interested in Arctic exploration can read more of this here.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salomon_August_Andrée



(The Polar Bear is visible in the background in the above pic when viewed full size).

We wandered amongst the relicts of buildings and artefacts strewn along the littoral and read the information plaque there whilst our guide gave us an in depth account of the expedition and it's downfall.




While ashore, I had the chance to take a panoramic of the ship anchored in the bay.

[Sprocky]

A real live Isbjørn in the wild!!!

Just hoping you got closer, for all our members.

How many degree's did that pano consist of?

[Lisbeth]

Wonderful! A real Isbjørn I was dead scared that you would not see any

[Dewi]

180 degrees Sprocks. See my reply to Lis re close-ups.

Lis, the Boo! pic was taken on this trip, just a day or two later.