Arctic Wildlife & Wilderness
Svalbard is a truly stunning wildlife holiday destination. The wilderness feels immense and I suppose as you sit among the pack ice that stretches 800km to the north pole and beyond, it is immense. In this awe inspiring group of islands there is a wealth of Arctic wildlife. On a 10 day reconnaissance cruise we saw polar bears, including a mother with two cubs curled up on an ice floe, walrus which were just incredible to be among. Weighing in at around 600kg they are huge members of the seal family and are rather inquisitive. Reindeer and Arctic fox made up the other mammals whilst bird watching was also splendid with the rare ivory gull, Brunnich’s guillemots by the thousands, puffins, little auks and Arctic terns among others. However, it is the small flowers such as saxifrages among highly dramatic mountain scenery and lonesome polar bears out on the ice that give a scale to the islands and their fragility. Besides the charters that we are running next year with wildlife photographer Andy Rouse, we shall be bringing a selection of the highest quality polar trips to you shortly so that you to can experience the a Spitsbergen wildlife holiday from a small ship.
Tags: Arctic, Polar, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, wilderness, wildlife
