Shengjia Gu

Region: Arctic

Destinations: Svalbard

Ship: m/v Ortelius

When I suddenly found myself and the ship in the middle of a seemingly endless pack ice, everyone was silent. The world seemed stopped – frozen in time. As the vessel kept pushing the ice, a closer look at the pack ice revealed fresh polar bears footprints, and they were EVERYWHERE. Anticipation kept building until finally, a polar bear was spotted, standing next to what seemed to be the remains of a meal. We were in such close proximity to the bear that many guests found it unreal. Then the camera shutters started working full speed for about 30 minutes. That was definitely the highlight of the whole voyage – an unforgettable experience of a lifetime.

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