Another zodiac cruise is scheduled for this morning at Holmiabukta, and being an overcast day with intermittent rain, it seems a good idea to stay in bed to get over the rotten head cold I’ve caught on board Le Boreal. That is of course until Jannie announces that the first group out in the zodiacs has found a polar bear swimming in the water, which is much visible than any that we’ve seen so far. On with the thermals and parka and I’m the second last on to the last zodiac departing.
By this stage, the polar bear is out of the water, and doesn’t seem to be perturbed by the zodiacs quietly manouevering to get a good look at her. She appears to be in good condition, and treats us to a couple of rolls in the remaining snow to clean up and dry off her coat. The bear has both ears tagged, so she is well-known to researchers, probably since she was a cub. She ambles along the rocky shoreline for about an hour before she tires of us, climbs a little way up the hill and takes a nap. She’s still sleeping when we depart for Magdalenefjorden.
It’s raining steadily and overcast at Magdalenefjorden. Whilst I would have liked to have photographed the colony of ‘little auks’ (birds), it is an easy decision to curl up in bed with my now very sore nose.
Our Captain, Patrick Marchesseau, famous for his calm when hijacked by Somalian pirates off the east coast of Africa on the yacht Le Ponant, informs us in his particular lilting blend of Franglais that we are heading to the open sea with a destination of Greenland.
