Polar Bears at Franz Joseph

Polar Bears at Franz Josef Land

We went on an Oceanwide Expeditions trip to Franz Joseph Land in the Russian part of the Arctic. Few have been there, but it’s a great spot to enter the ice north of the archipelago. Here we found more than 20 Polar Bears.

We found this female which had been badly injured. She had been defending her cub, but had lost to an intruding male which succeeded in killing her offspring. Males kill young bears either for food or to make the females come into heat again. We also saw harp seals, ringed seals and bearded seals in the area.

One ting, sailing 3 days each way from Kirkenes in order to bring 77 people to this area will emit a lot of CO2. Apart for compensating (supporting purchase of degraded rainforest in Ecuador through BirdLife Denmark), I will rethink my lifestyle.

It was obvious to everybody who got here that the situation is grave! A trip like ours would not have been possible a few decades ago due to much more sea ice around the islands.