Cruising into Woodfjorden, one of the great glacial valleys which cut deep into the heart of northern Spitsbergen, we passed low-lying Reinsdyrflya (Reindeer Flats) and turned into the tributary valley of Leifdefjorden, where we found ourselves surrounded by jagged peaks of ancient black rock, split by enormous curving rivers of ice. As the morning clouds broke open and bright sunshine began to sparkle off the blue and white icebergs we set out in the Zodiacs for a close-up look at Monacobreen, the great glacier whose tongue stretches a mile and a half wide at the end of the fjord. We motored slowly back and forth in front of the towering curtain of ice, discussing the geology of Spitsbergen's remarkable glaciers and seeking opportunities for creative photography while the light continued to change from one minute to the next.

This icy cruise would have been quite enough for the first outing of the morning, but after we had been out for half an hour, Stefan Lundgren called the other naturalists on the radio to say that he had spotted a mother polar bear and her cub swimming along beneath the face of the glacier! We all gathered in the vicinity, carefully keeping our distance to avoid stressing the bears, and slowly followed them for nearly two hours while they swam almost the full width of the valley. Finally our patience paid off and the bears emerged onto a sunlit iceberg to rest and stretch. It was one of those moments when everything seems absolutely right, particularly for a Photo Expedition like this one. Sunlight and cloud shadow alternately highlighted and muted the blues of the ice background; mother and cub relaxed while the Zodiac drivers carefully crept closer, and shutters and motordrives clicked and whirred softly in the background. By the time we returned to the ship for lunch, we had been out for four hours and though we were chilled by the glacial wind, we were even more warmed by our delight in this close encounter with the Ice Bear.

The bears of Liefdefjorden are part of a small, newly established, year-round population who give birth and raise their cubs along the shores of this spectacular seaway. We felt blessed to have shared this beautiful morning with two of them and we knew that, whatever further adventures we might find here in Svalbard's polar wilderness, this was a great highlight which would remain special to us for years to come.