We were all set to dive close inshore when along came this polar bear - certainly large and probably a male, though it is hard to tell. He had been sleeping on the snow bank behind, and awakened to find four zodiacs approaching. He had sniffed the air, yawned many times and strolled down to the shore in a leisurely way to see if we were worth bothering with. Here he is still making up his mind.
Captain Jurgen, Patrick and I too were making up our minds - though it didn't take long - to go and dive somewhere else. Filming a polar bear underwater would have been quite a scoop, but he looked hungry. So we drove half a mile along the shore and dived there instead. The result? Good footage in clear water of a sandy and rocky sea bed, with amphipods grazing like tiny sheep in the sandy parts, spectacular sea anemones and a forest of tall, healthy kelp. The polar bear, we heard later, decided it was too cold for a swim, and went walkabout on the island instead.
