BEAR IS A BEAR

Or is it? “People probably have revered bears for as long as we have interacted with them. And while bear worship is not a part of most modern religions, it is natural for us — even those of us who have never seen a bear– to be awed by such magnificent and formidable creatures.” Charles Fergus.

We pulled into the 14th of July Glacier on the 15th of July. The Wind on its last expedition didn’t see a bear and Michael’s brother Peter was in the Arctic in June and didn’t see a bear. We saw two in one day. I was wondering why we weren’t beginning to be called to the zodiacs for the hike we had signed up for. I was still deciding whether I wanted to hike it or not…then I noticed the zodiacs that were out with the crew and naturalists were tooling around more than usual. Soon the PA announced the female bear moving around to the right of the glacier. No hiking now!

The first group of three colors went out on the zodiacs to enjoy the female bear tromping around near the water and taking a swim. Our second group of three colors (we were the red group) were hoping we’d even get to see her close up. Luckily she turned around and walked on the cliffs and our group also got some fabulous photos as we tooled around in the zodiac jockeying for a good position She needed food and seem to be struggling – but of course still amazing to see.

A girl bear and her bird. It was just a magnificent gift to see both these polar bears. You can see when you zoom out how small she looks in “her” countryside. Our naturalists were as happy as the guests were to see these bears…everyone’s camera came out! Some of the photos are Larkins, some the ships photographer and some are mine! These photos still take my breath away. I was never so happy as to NOT be able to hike up a glacier.

We enjoyed the male polar bear as we began to sail onto NY London for an afternoon hiking around an old marble quarry…