Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

In some cases these birds fly many thousands of miles to escape the long, harsh arctic winter.

The fact that birds undertake such remarkable journeys and spend significant parts of their lives in far flung and exotic places is, for me, one of the most fascinating things about them and it is difficult to think of them without thinking of those places.Μύ

For example, in November 2007 lots of little auks arrived off the Suffolk coast, driven into the southern North Sea by northerly gales from their normal wintering areas much further north.Μύ These little seabirds, not much bigger than a starling, breed in their millions in the high Arctic and watching them stream past Southwold Pier, heading back north, it was hard not to feel that they had brought something of the Arctic with them.

Little auks in Svalbard

So, the Arctic had long held me in its thrall: a dramatic, at times savage place, populated by exciting waders and seabirds and equally spectacular animals, but, I often wondered, what is the best way to see it?

Having had our first taste of expedition cruising in the Antarctic in 2003, my curiosity got the better of me and I persuaded my partner Louise that we should attend a talk about Svalbard at the British Bird Watching Fair at Rutland Water in August 2007.Μύ

The conclusion?Μύ An expedition cruise, making a circumnavigation of Svalbard, was the way to experience the Arctic and have a great chance of seeing the ultimate Arctic animal: the polar bear.

We set off on 24th July 2008 - just as summer finally seemed to have arrived in Suffolk. We enjoyed a spectacular view of Suffolk as we flew over in cloudless skies on our way to Oslo, which itself was basking in a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius.

Diary - Day 1: Arrival in Svalbard

The sky over Oslo was still cloudless when we set off for Longyearbyen (pronounced Long-year-be-an) in Svalbard, which lies about 1750 miles north of Ipswich, north of Norway's North Cape, roughly halfway between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole.

Svalbard is an archipelago about the size of the Republic of Ireland but with a permanent population of fewer than 2500. About 60% of its landmass is covered by glaciers.

It seems a long time since it was possible to think of the Arctic without thinking of global warming and our use of fossil fuels, so it was quite a surprise to arrive in Longyearbyen and realise that its principal industry is coal mining.

Longyearbyen lies on the west side of Spitsbergen, itself the westernmost island in Svalbard and when we explored the town in the afternoon it was calm and overcast with a temperature of about 8 degrees celsius, which is pretty typical summer weather there.

Polar campion

Svalbard's position means that its west side benefits from the warming influence of the Gulf stream and in Longyearbyen we encountered some of the 164 species of flowering plants that brighten the tundra (the boggy topsoil that sits on top of the permafrost and thaws out during the summer) including cotton grass around the brightly painted houses, polar campion and Svalbard poppy, as well as some of the typical birds including glaucous gulls and snow buntings (both winter visitors to Suffolk).

Sailing in the Aleksey

After lunch and a brief exploration of the centre of Longyearbyen, a small settlement of about 1400 people, it was time to make our way to the quayside to board our home for next ten nights, the expedition cruise ship and former Russian Academy of Science research vessel, the Aleksey Maryshev.

The Aleksey Maryshev is a relatively small ship, accommodating just 48 passengers, with a Russian crew of 19, a catering manager and two chefs and an expedition crew of three.

Just as our Antarctic experience had begun, our first evening aboard saw us slip our mooring at 6.00pm and head out for the open sea.Μύ After the initial introductions and briefings the lifeboat drill was for real and we actually had to get into the lifeboats and the engines were fired-up.Μύ

After dinner it was all up to the monkey deck with eyes peeled and, as we passed our first glaciers in calm and sunny conditions, we watched little auks and Brunnich's guillemots on the water and fulmars flying by.