Welcome to Part Two of my Svalbard blog! As I mentioned in Part One, there are just too many special images and stories to share that it would have been neglectful on my part limiting this blog to only one post. Speaking of Part One, if you haven't yet enjoyed that post, you can discover that right here.

We enjoyed three Zodiac excursions during the voyage. To keep warm, although the temperature was always just above freezing during the excursions, we each issued a waterproof thermal suit. Underneath, I wore base layers, Merino wool socks and thermal waterproof hiking boots to finish it all off. It took us about 45 minutes of logistical preparation to get everyone into the zodiacs so I felt a bit like a dog waiting impatiently to get into the family car for a trip.

One of the excursions was a visit to a breeding ground for thousands of Thick-billed Murre's (also know as Brünnich's Guillemot). As we approached in the zodiac, the sheer number of the birds was intense and almost overwhelming. All of the noise, eating, mating, pooping, and flying was all part of the experience. Incidentally, one of the best bits of advice was to close your mouth when shooting up or risk a mouth full of bird poop. That's some solid advice.

Important: If you are interested in viewing the best 60 images from the 15,000+ that I took during this 8 day voyage then visit the Svalbard gallery right here!

Fortunately that morning, nobody was a victim of a bird dropping and we continued on to see some other impressive animals. Shortly thereafter, we saw a pod of Beluga whales at the base of the cliffs and near enough to the surface to witness them blowing. I have a few images of this but since there was no breach I don't consider a white patch spouting air a worthy of sharing. This also explains why I don't have any serious interest in a pure whale watching tour. The best probability is that I get an image of a tail out of the water and that's it. Breaches are pretty rare so I will leave the whales to the divers and drone pilots who can capture proper images.

Prior to departure, I took a walking tour just outside Svalbard hoping to see an Arctic fox but the gods of nature photography did not smile upon me that day. Just when I was starting to become frustrated with all of the bird mayhem, we spotted an Arctic fox! This one was on the move and clearly smelled something of interest.

Upon further investigation, the fox found a gull beginning to feed on a dead Thick-billed Murre and once the fox confronted the gull, he quickly flew away. In the end, the fox apparently decided the risk wasn't worth the reward. He would have to jump off the fragile ice cliff and down 2 meters onto the rocky shoreline in order to retrieve the carcass. Due to the colossal amount of birds in the area, he must have reasoned that there would be a less risky meal available in the near future and moved on.

What made this sighting extra special was that we were a mere 15 meters away from the fox which also made it a challenge for me to continue with my 600mm lens but I went for it anyhow. Incidentally, I was shooting with 2 cameras and the other was fitted with a 70-200mm zoom.

Another day, we spotted a group of walruses on a small iceberg nearby and launched the zodiacs to try and get a closer look. Seeing walruses this close was truly exceptional. They seemed to be playing with us and were curious about these odd looking creatures floating in small boats on the surface. They swam around and under us and capturing a good image was not easy. It was impossible to know where or when they would surface and for how long. Next time I can try to use more video as that may be more fruitful but regardless of my second guessing, it was a thrilling experience especially for someone like me who has never seen a walrus before.

My last encounter before heading back was with a male and female walrus that appeared to be a couple. The smaller female was leaning on top of the male and I started laughing when their combined weight broke through the ice and sent both into the water!

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On our third zodiac excursion was to visit a glacier, but up close. Prior to the trip I remember thinking that a calving glacier would be a really cool image to capture but once I was in the field there was a calving every 8-10 minutes. This rapidly accelerated my already above average climate anxiety. Sure, it's summer and the temperature is seasonally higher but to see calving that frequently is simply not a good thing.

In the first image below you can see the birds scattering very soon after the ice starts to fall and hit the water. It sounded like thunder and was somewhat startling. After the ice fell for a while we could see the wave created by the ice moving slowly away from the glacier. In my estimation, the wave was about 1 or 2 meters high so we didn't stick around to ride the wave and headed safely back towards the ship.

On the way back we managed to see some stunning patterns and colors in the ice and you will find a few of those images below as well.

Once again, if you are interested in viewing the best 60 images from the 15,000+ that I took during this 8 day voyage then visit the Svalbard gallery right here!

And lastly, I really enjoyed looking for shapes patterns and abstract images during the trip and I leave you with a few of those below...