18.4.10

DISCOVER TASMANIA PAGE 4

Baby it’s cold outside

Polar exploration is an extreme pastime even on a tourist level. It’s aquest to venture where not many dare and to see and feel what notmany people can. But, as Carolyne Jasinski discovers, therewards are equally extreme Greenland

Sea

Barents Sea

NORWAY

FINLAND

RUSSIA

SWEDEN

GREENLAND

ICELAND

SVALBARD

SHE is truly magnificent, all muscle asshe powers across the ice. Even from adistance her size is impressive. Shecovers a huge distance in just minutes.Her pace is measured, her focuscomplete. Our polar bear has breakfastin sight.

She stops for a moment, sniffs thefrigid Arctic air. Her sense of smellwould have kicked in a few kilometresaway. Now she is fine-tuning thedirection she needs to follow.

As she comes closer we see hertarget. Ringed seals are resting on topof the ice; lonely little souls keeping asafe distance apart, each staying closeto a breathing hole, ready to escapeinto the water.

Unfortunately for our bear, the dayis glorious. Visibility is perfect. InArctic terms, it’s positively balmy – 0C

with filtered sun straining through theclouds, creating an ethereal glow.

One by one the seals catch aglimpse of her and disappear into theirholes. We breathe a collective sigh ofrelief. But one seal is playing chicken –it hasn’t slipped away. It’s a little toodaring, or dumb, to realise there isonly so much temptation a bear canbear.

The reaction on board the ship issplit. We half hope the seal escapes but,without wanting to admit it, we’re alsoegging on the bear. She is the reason,after all, that most of us have venturedthis far north to the SvalbardArchipelago. This group of islands,about the size of Tasmania, lies farnorth of Norway, high above the ArcticCircle. We have all seen documentariesabout polar bears, but to see them in

their natural habitat is the ultimatethrill – No.1 on the Arctic wishlist.It’s a long way to come and a risky

venture; there are no guarantees withnature. But Spitsbergen, the largestisland of Svalbard, has the highestconcentration of polar bears in theworld – it is home to about 3000 of the25,000 world population. And with24-hour daylight during the Arcticsummer, the odds of seeing polar bearsare in our favour.

With the seal still daring death, ourbear changes tactics. She is stalking.No longer on the move, she crouches,all weight transferred to her haunches.Then she pounces. Three giant-sizeleaps and she’s crashing through theice, using the full force of her front legsand huge paws.

The seal’s last-second desperate

dash is too late. She hoists up hercatch. Breakfast is served, and it’s nota pretty picture. The body is draggedbehind a clump of ice and stripped.For once I am glad not to have asuper-zoom lens.

As the bear shreds its seal, shockregisters on the faces on board theAkademik Ioffe. Hands go overmouths. But while some people arehorrified, others are hiding hugesmiles. It’s not every day you get to seesomething like this.

But let me put the blood lust in

perspective. We have come to admire,respect and fear polar bears thanks tozoologist Kirsten LaMar. She is one ofthe expedition staff on our polaradventure, which is attempting tocircumnavigate the SvalbardArchipelago. The staff have expertisein fields ranging from geology andhistory to ornithology, marine biology,photography and gun handling.

You can’t go anywhere on shorewithout a ‘‘gunnie’’, as we nicknamethem – just in case a bear pops outfrom behind a rock or iceberg.

Kirsten describes polar bears as ‘‘big,sexy, charismatic megafauna’’ that areat the top of the food chain. But they,too, must eat. In fact, they need at leastone seal a week to survive in the Arctic.It’s not the bears’ fault that we findtheir favourite meal adorable. Kirstenassures us death would have come veryquickly to the seal. Its skull would havebeen crushed instantly as the bearcrashed through the ice.Even the ship staff are in awe.Some have been coming to the

Arctic for six years and neverwitnessed a hunt.

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