Sometimes you wish timing was a little different. Or that you could just do what you want… We (the guides) had just boarded our zodiacs at Andreeneset on Kvitøya and were waiting for the passengers to board. They had to wait a little because there was a lot of ice blocking the gangway. While we were waiting in our zodiacs we got a call from the captain that a Polar Bear was seen swimming not too far away. I started scanning, but couldn’t find it.

Until I put my binoculars down and turned around. It had climbed on an ice floe fairly close to me. Not close enough to be a threat, but nice to see. The bear was clearly interested in what was happening around her and didn’t seem afraid at all. At this moment I really would have wanted that I already had passengers in my zodiac, so we could go a little closer to have a better look. But unfortunately they were still on the ship, all looking at the bear. And going closer ourselves without passengers is not done of course, so we just hung around the ship, looking at the bear and taking pictures. Still a great moment and nice to see a bear on the ice from a low angle, but also with a bit the feeling that it could have been even better…