In the afternoon we sailed along the longest tidewater ice front, not only in Svalbard but also in the Northern Hemisphere. The Austfonna Ice front, hugging the south coast of Nordaustlandet, the second largest island in the area, runs unbroken for about 120 kilometers (west to east). Unbroken, but intersected in summer by waterfalls cascading from the edge. In places these rivers will dig down into the core of the ice, breaking out at the front through tunnels and pipes. Northern fulmars and kittiwakes will always be seen swinging along the front, diving for crustaceans and small fish brought up in the turbulent water by the falls. A truly astounding phenomenon, this ice captured our attention for a couple of relaxed hours in the afternoon.

Earlier, following an early landing in the wee hours on the island of Nordaustlandet, we had a first class-A-number one encounter with a polar bear on drifting ice in front of the ice wall, making our total of spottings 12 during the four days we have been cruising Svalbard waters. For the photographers on board the bear was a perfect opportunity: slowly making its way across the pack ice field, with the bluish ice wall as the backdrop, you couldn't have asked for a more serene picture. Again we were offered a day full of unique High Arctic experiences aboard the Caledonian Star.

Since we've shown you several images of polar bears over the last several days, for today's Web photo, we want to show you some of the normally unseen Arctic. The image at left is microscopic plankton shown on our video microscope during the evening recap, and projected on TV monitors for everyone to see, while our naturalists explain how it ties into the web of life here.