Just ask!)īring your binoculars with you everywhere. (Guides can get as excited as passengers about seeing polar bears and the like, occasionally forgetting to offer to share. Often, though, guides are using these to help with spotting, so getting your turn isn’t always easy. Additionally, many ships offer one or two spotting scopes – set up on tripods – that get you closer to the action.
Some ships will provide binoculars for all guests to use onboard, but most will only offer a handful of binoculars to be shared, and we’ve seen passengers get quite covetous of them. Good binoculars aren’t cheap, but think of them as an investment you’ll use on any expedition cruise. If you don’t have a pair already, visit a store and try them out before purchasing, and practice with them at home. feet or even yards when it comes to distances, as the metric system rules on ships.Īlso, bring your own binoculars. “Look at 2 o’clock, about 500 meters from shore.” Get used to meters vs. Guides will describe locations using spots on the clock. First, think of the ship as a clock, with the bow at 12 o’clock and the stern at 6. That said, a few tips will have you sightseeing like an expert. When there’s a big sighting – a polar bear or humpback whale, for example – you’ll likely hear an announcement over the ship’s PA system. To help ensure you see all the wildlife, expedition guides on your cruise ship will call out when the polar bears and other critters appear. Passengers on National Geographic Resolution spot two polar bears in the distance in the Arctic. The sun doesn’t really set during this time, so you’ve got daylight – and the opportunity for wildlife viewing – even in the wee hours. The summer months, particularly June and July, when the ice begins to recede, offer better visibility, though dense fog still is a reality on a Svalbard polar bear cruise. Svalbard, the Norwegian archipelago located between the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole that has a significant polar bear population, is the starting point for many Arctic cruises.
Who are a polar bears predators Pc#
Several other cruise lines offer ships with PC 6 ratings, which will also cut through the ice in the summer and autumn.) Multiple cruise lines offer ships with ice-breaking technology, including Viking, Hurtigruten, Atlas Ocean Voyages, Scenic, Swan Hellenic and Ponant. Polar classes range from the lowest – PC 7 – to highest – PC 1, which can withstand year-round operations in all polar regions. (It has a polar class rating of PC 5 Category A. We sailed on National Geographic Resolution, which has an X-bow design that allows it to easily cut through that first-year ice year-round. If you’re set on seeing a polar bear on your Artic cruise, increase your odds by booking on a ship that has ice-breaking technology, allowing it to sail farther north, breaking up the annual ice sheet, which melts. Their diet, which primarily consists of seal blubber, means you can see them hunting from the ice sheet. The largest carnivorous mammals on the planet live and spend their time on annual Arctic sea ice – which is shrinking these days – so you’re more likely to see a polar bear on the ice than on land. In the water, all you’ll see is their black heads, which, from a distance, can easily be confused for a swimming bird. Polar bears also move quickly, and they’re excellent swimmers, thanks to flat feet with webbing between the toes. After all, you’re looking for white bears against a landscape that is predominantly covered in white snow and ice. Just by sailing, you’ll have a decent chance of seeing these elusive creatures. (Don’t look for polar bears on your cruise to Antarctica you’ll be disappointed.) Polar bears are only found in the very north of the world – north of the Arctic Circle to the North Pole, exactly where an Arctic cruise sails. So, will I see polar bears on my cruise to the Arctic? Maybe. Your best chance of seeing a polar bear is on the ice in the Arctic.
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