Scenes from Svalbard, Norway, August 2022

Svalbard certainly is the most vast and wild landscape I've ever visited. It was a bucket list trip of a lifetime, though I believe I will make it back there before too long. It's also the furthest north I've been on the planet, at one point going beyond 82˚N latitude into the polar ice pack. Even in the latter part of summer, the sun never dipped below the horizon while we where there.

Colin

 

Our ship, the M/V Ortelius

Abundant birdlife on the ice bergs

Svalbard reindeer, a smaller subspecies unique to these islands

Thanksgiving 2022

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I have much to be grateful for this year, including many new experiences in premiere destinations around the world, and 2023 is shaping up to be another banner year for travel and tours as well!

Finally, thank you all for following along and supporting my adventures. You are the reason I am able to continue this journey. I will have a couple big announcements in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned for those...

All the best,

Colin

Polar Bear on the icepack, 82˚ North, Svalbard

Zebras in Etosha National Park, Namibia

Humpback whale, northern Iceland

Isbjørn 🇳🇴 = Polar Bear

Still going through images from Svalbard, Norway. We saw at least 12 individual polar bears aside from the female we observed crossing the ice pack. The others were viewed from Zodiacs and on more than one occasion, a scheduled landing was canceled due to bears in the vicinity.

Have a great weekend and thank you for following along!

Colin

PS - in less than 2 weeks I'll be back in Namibia to lead a group with Nat Expo Tours, LLC, so please stay tuned…

Polar bear in Hingstsletta

Polar bear tracks near the mud, Ymerbukta

Polar bear mother and cub sleeping on the beach, Kapp Lee

Polar Bear on the pack ice, 82˚N latitude, Svalbard, Norway

A polar bear crosses the pack ice north of Svalbard, Norway with Oceanwide Expeditions. Our ship, the M/V Ortelius, passed 82˚N latitude as we watched this female bear cross the moving ice. Footage by Mike Haring and myself.

It's very possible that we will lead a group to Svalbard in the near future with Nat Expo Tours. We currently have next year's tours up on our site and if you subscribe to our newsletter on the homepage, you will get a $200 discount on the Arctic Norway Aurora Adventure, March 14-22, 2023: www.natexpotours.com

Thank you for following,

Colin

Alkefjellet, Svalbard

Alkefjellet, Day 6 of our Svalbard adventure with Oceanwide Expeditions. A birder's paradise to say the least, where flocks of guillemots and gulls filled the cliffs and sky, at times resembling a swarm of insects when viewed from a distance.

Please stay tuned for more from Svalbard as I edit through thousands of images & videos...

Thank you for following along!

Colin

Brünnich’s Guillemot

Brünnich’s Guillemot

Brünnich’s Guillemots

Guillemots and gulls

Our ship, the M/V Oretlius

Atlantic Walrus

The Atlantic walrus, or Odobenus rosmarus, is also known as “Tooth Walker” by Inuit peoples because they use their tusks to haul themselves ashore and move around on land. Odobenus translates from Latin as “tooth walking sea horse.”

Svalbard, Norway was my first opportunity to witness and photograph these saber-toothed sea cows of the north (I wrote that one). At more than 2,000 pounds, they are massive creatures, and it would be easy to underestimate their agility by just watching them on land but to observe them in the water is a different story…

I have more to share from our Svalbard adventure with Oceanwide Expeditions, so please stay tuned. We may eventually take a group there with Nat Expo Tours, but for now we are scheduled to return to arctic Norway for an Aurora & Arctic Landscape Tour in March of 2023! Please message me for details on that or visit our website: https://naturalexposurestours.com/norway-tour/

Cheers!

Colin

 

 

 

Svalbard

Svalbard, Norway.

I am fortunate to have visited this iconic destination, a place sought after by almost any nature photographer. We spent 9 days cruising around the archipelago with Oceandwide Expeditions, making land excursions (when there weren't any polar bears present) and going beyond 82˚ North latitude, within 500 miles of the north pole. We saw a total of 12 bears, one walking across the polar icepack. I will have more to share when I have time to edit through thousands of images & videos. I am now in Iceland, leading a photography tour with Nat Expo Tours.

As always, thank you for following along!

Colin

Polar bear on the icepack

Arctic plant life

Morning sky from the bow of the Ortelius