Unframed Dave
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Many thanks to dragonsdream for recommending this trip, it really was a cracker.
These were from a 9 day trip cruising around the Svalbard archipelago aboard MS Quest. There were 53 guests on the boat, 3 Naturetrek guides, and 5 expedition team members.
Photos are a mix of shots, taken from land, aboard the boat or from the zodiac.
There were a mix of ages on the boat, but mainly in the autumn years.
We were extremely lucky on this trip, we had 2 separate sightings of Polar bear. 2 bears were not only seen from extremely close distance in the zodiac, but both were very active and demonstrated a good range of activities, they can sometimes be spotted, but do nothing more than sleep for 3 hours. 2 further bears were fairly distant but could be observed, sliding in the snow, walking and swimming in the pack ice and even taking a bear comfort break.
We were also extremely privileged to see a bowhead whale, this is a right whale of which there have only been 60 sightings in 80 years.
We also had great views (although my photos are a bit pants), of a Sabine gull. The birders amongst you, will know how rare that is.
In case anyone is thinking of booking this type of trip, have a good discussion with your operator. The Norwegian government are imposing new regulations which will reduce the number of zodiac landing sites from around 200 to 30 and there will be an exclusion zone of around 500 metres around polar bears. Some of the shots below were taken from around 30 - 40 metres. These regulations come into force next year.
All jpegs sooc.
One of the later shots may be upsetting to some, please don't proceed, if you are of a delicate disposition.
These were from a 9 day trip cruising around the Svalbard archipelago aboard MS Quest. There were 53 guests on the boat, 3 Naturetrek guides, and 5 expedition team members.
Photos are a mix of shots, taken from land, aboard the boat or from the zodiac.
There were a mix of ages on the boat, but mainly in the autumn years.
We were extremely lucky on this trip, we had 2 separate sightings of Polar bear. 2 bears were not only seen from extremely close distance in the zodiac, but both were very active and demonstrated a good range of activities, they can sometimes be spotted, but do nothing more than sleep for 3 hours. 2 further bears were fairly distant but could be observed, sliding in the snow, walking and swimming in the pack ice and even taking a bear comfort break.
We were also extremely privileged to see a bowhead whale, this is a right whale of which there have only been 60 sightings in 80 years.
We also had great views (although my photos are a bit pants), of a Sabine gull. The birders amongst you, will know how rare that is.
In case anyone is thinking of booking this type of trip, have a good discussion with your operator. The Norwegian government are imposing new regulations which will reduce the number of zodiac landing sites from around 200 to 30 and there will be an exclusion zone of around 500 metres around polar bears. Some of the shots below were taken from around 30 - 40 metres. These regulations come into force next year.
All jpegs sooc.
One of the later shots may be upsetting to some, please don't proceed, if you are of a delicate disposition.
- ILCE-1
- 600.0 mm
- ƒ/7.1
- 1/500 sec
- ISO 250
- ILCE-1
- FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
- 600.0 mm
- ƒ/8
- 1/250 sec
- ISO 500
- ILCE-1
- ISO 800
- ILCE-1
- FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
- 600.0 mm
- ƒ/8
- 1/400 sec
- ISO 100
- ILCE-1
- 200.0 mm
- ƒ/4
- 1/1600 sec
- ISO 2000
- ILCE-1
- FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
- 600.0 mm
- ƒ/8
- 1/1600 sec
- ISO 800
- ILCE-1
- ISO 640
- ILCE-1
- 146.0 mm
- ƒ/4
- 1/4000 sec
- ISO 1000
- ILCE-1
- ISO 1600
- ILCE-1
- ISO 2000
- ILCE-1
- ISO 500
- ILCE-1
- ISO 500
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