Chapter 3: Polar Anniversary

I knew our wedding anniversary would be different this year—it would be the first one without a wedding ceremony. But I had no idea it would be so special in this way. On June 25th, we were awoken by our expedition leader informing us they had spotted not one, but two polar bears: a mom and her cub. We frantically got dress and up on deck, watching them move across a low plain beneath a mountain. It was surreal to see a polar bear in the wild for the first time. They were an off-white, clearly visible in the surrounding snow, and were walking along like they didn’t have a care in the world. The crew loaded both zodiacs and we prepared for a cruise. Unfortunately, that was the end of our time with them. Mom and cub both disappeared over a ridge, and while we searched for them for well over an hour in the zodiacs, we couldn’t find them again. Our consolidation was approaching incredibly close to yet another glacier, and spending time with another bearded seal.

The immense glacier shrouded in fog and snow

We still got to do two landings that day. On the first one, we pulled into a beautiful glacial bay surrounded by snowcapped mountains. The boarding routine starting to become familiar, we changed into our protective clothing, pulled on our rubber boots, fastened on our lifejackets, and took the ladders down to our zodiacs to head to shore. It was covered in lichen, which seemed incredible. How could so many different species of plants survive further than 78 degrees North? We also came across some polar bear paw prints in the snow, and exciting but also spooky sign. It felt like we could run into one at any moment. Although we felt safe with our guides (and their big game rifles), it was also clear that we were visiting a truly wild place, in which we were not the top animal.

The second landing in the afternoon was even more spectacular than the first. We journeyed up to the northwestern corner of Spitsbergen island, and anchored in between a few of the smaller islands off the coast. Our guides then took us on a guided hike up one of the islands, in which we had a magnificent view of the channel and the surrounding scenery. We trudged through the soggy tundra at the base, carefully avoiding the nesting Arctic Terns, which are very territorial. Then it was up, up toward the peak, probably 500 feet up. The view was inspiring. It was as if all the northern world lay out before us in splendor. I felt moved by the beauty of the Earth and the wonder at being in such a special place with my life partner.

I assumed that would be the highlight of our day as we returned to the ship, which then headed northeast around the corner of Svalbard’s biggest island. How wrong I was. After dinner, the sun still blaring outside, we headed up on deck to watch our approach into a beautiful bay. All was silent, as the water turned to glass. Then we spotted a lone walrus resting on an iceberg up ahead. We barely slowed down to admire it, even though it was our first sighting of the species, because our crew spotted a pod of beluga whales. There were at least 30 of them, which our guide Marcelo called “sea bananas”—you mostly only saw their yellowish humped backs as they surfaced to get new air. We followed them deeper into the bay, until the ice pack, then anchored. We watched them for hours, until we had to split our viewing time: one of our fellow passengers unbelievably spotted another polar bear, moving back and forth across the ice roughly two miles away from our ship. The entire ship, passengers and crew alike, watched both sightings with giddy joy—it was hard to know which animals to watch!

Watching belugas from our ship at midnight

As the “day” drew to a close, my wife and I took a picture on the top deck with the midnight sun. There was minimal change in the sun’s height in the sky as the clock turned toward a new day. It was the most beautiful anniversary day we could ask for, with three polar bear sightings, incredible scenery, and walrus and beluga watching. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. And maybe, because it was a special day for me personally, the magic of the Arctic will also imprint on my brain. I knew as I lay my head down to rest that night: we inhabit the most spectacular planet imaginable.