KABOOM! by Marsel van Oosten

KABOOM! by Marsel van Oosten

Last night we returned from our polar bear expedition, and we’re now back in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. We had decided to take our privately chartered ship straight north, to where the pack ice is. That took us a bit longer than expected due to bad weather, but we eventually arrived there with good weather and we had some great bear sightings. After spending a couple of days in the ice, we decided to head further south east, to the island of Kvitoya – under normal circumstances you can never really get there because there is too much ice everywhere, but because the last winter has been particularly warm, there is very little ice around Svalbard. That’s bad for the polar bears, but good for us, because we were able to get to places we have never been able to get to before. On our way back we spent some time in Liefdefjorden, a massive glacier. I took this shot at the same place last year, when a large part of the glacier broke off and caused a giant explosion in the water. The bird was lucky to get away just in time. – – – If you would like to explore the landscape and wildlife of Svalbard, and photograph the magnificent polar bear, then this is surely one of the best trips out there. We’ll be sailing on a small ship with an ice-strengthened hull, so we can actually move into the sea ice, something that most larger ships can’t do. And as we have chartered the ship for just our group, our itinerary is extremely flexible. This year’s tour is already fully booked, but you can still reserve a spot on next year’s trip. That one will be led by world famous Wildlife Photographer of the Year winner Greg du Toit, who is not only a great guy with a very creative eye, but also one of the best wildlife photographers on the planet. If you’re interested, please check out the Polar Bears of Svalbard tour page on our website: www.squiver.com/tours-workshops/svalbard-2017/ Marsel WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER ©2016 Marsel van Oosten, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

Marsel van Oosten: Photos