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Overnight we crossed the Hinloppen Strait with a view to landing on the south-west side of Nordaustlandet at a walrus haul-out site at Torellneset, but when we anchored offshore two things became apparent. First of all the beach was awash with large pieces of ice, so there were no walruses (they don’t like to have their route back to the water obstructed).

Secondly, there was a polar bear on the beach, which would mean we wouldn't be able to land anyway. Our Danish expedition leader, Troels Jacobsen, was watching the bear from the bridge and it wasn't moving.

It could have been asleep, of course, but he suspected that it might actually be dead.Ìý The decision was made to approach the beach in the zodiacs and take a closer look.

Sadly, the bear was dead and so not only were we able to land, but we also had the opportunity to get closer to a polar bear in the wild than would otherwise be possible.Ìý It was a yearling and appeared to have starved, which just served to illustrate how hard it is for these animals to make a living in such an unforgiving environment, despite all their adaptation.

Fulmar

Well away from the influence of the Gulf Stream on the western side of Spitsbergen, we were now in what is known as polar desert.Ìý It was overcast and cold, just 2 degrees celsius, and there was a stiff wind blowing.Ìý

Along the shore kittiwakes and fulmars were riding the up-draughts and flying along the raised beach with scarcely a wing-beat.Ìý There were noticeably fewer flowering plants here and, perhaps because we had seen the dead bear, it felt very bleak.

Back on board we crossed the Hinloppen Strait, back towards Spitsbergen, and anchored off the island of Wilhelmoya at Binnebukta (which means Bay of the Mother Bear).Ìý It was fitting, therefore, that from our cabin porthole we could see a mother bear with two yearling cubs.Ìý One of the cubs was noticeably bigger than the other and so they may well have been one male and one female.

The bears seemed settled on the ice and so the decision was made to make a landing further along the shore, well away from where the bears were resting.

By now the weather had brightened considerably and we were able to explore the tundra and enjoy the flowering plants and the birds, which included pink-footed geese and a purple sandpiper, both of which are winter visitors to East Anglia.Ìý Keeping a watchful eye on the distant bears, we also saw three more reindeer.

Kittiwake

Back on board we were able to watch the bears from the safety of the ship and, whilst the mother bear seemed quite settled, resting on the ice, the youngsters were more active and at one stage one of them climbed up onto a small piece of raised ice and struck a pose exactly like the one in the logo of the well known brand of mints.Ìý

After a while the female bear got up and began walking towards the edge of the ice, getting closer to the ship all the time, followed by her two cubs, until they reached a point where they all lined up, looking at the ship and providing the perfect photo opportunity.

Now we had some serious steaming to do, as we needed to get around the south side of Nordaustlandet and head northeast in order to get into the zone of totality for the total solar eclipse two days later.Ìý This was not going to be easy, Troels said, because of the amount of sea ice that we would have to navigate our way through.Ìý Tomorrow was going to be spent at sea.