Day one of the expedition, we woke up anchored at the legendary and equally beautiful site of Virgohamna. It was from here that Salomon August Andrée took off in his balloon, The Eagle, towards unknown adventures and fame, but for entirely different reasons than he had hoped.
The story of Andrée and his balloon flight is a tragedy in itself, and to be in the place where he waited for so many days for the right winds, before he was seen flying north, was staggering. Today, however, we would have completely different things to think about than his aerial voyage.
After breakfast, we jumped in our Zodiacs to take a closer look at Virgohamna, named after Andree's ship Virgo. We didn't get all the way there before we saw a big fluffy white male polar bear standing on some large boulders. As we approached, we saw that it was feeding on a walrus carcass. Suddenly everyone had forgotten about Andree. As if he had been gone for 30 years...
We were at a distance, watching as the polar bear fed on the carcass, when suddenly the unlikely happened. Another polar bear arrived. It was a female, we could tell because she had a collar with a GPS on it—only the females have them. The two seemed to be familiar with each other, yet the female still kept some distance. After both had a hearty meal on the unfortunate walrus, they played around in a snowdrift and then fell asleep a few meters apart. All this had unfolded before our eyes on our first day. What lay ahead, we knew nothing about, but that's how it is to be on an expedition.
Please note: Depending on the lens used for a photo or video shot an animal may appear to be closer than it is. We always follow strict wildlife guidelines to ensure that we do not cause any disturbance.
