Polar Bears

My wife and I are very interested in viewing Polar bears.Are there any
cruises recommended for seeing them ,We are in our 70's and are fairly
healthy but not too agile?
Anyone have an experience with such a cruise?
Thanks

loulou wrote:

My wife and I are very interested in viewing Polar bears.Are there any
cruises recommended for seeing them ,We are in our 70's and are fairly
healthy but not too agile?
Anyone have an experience with such a cruise?
Thanks



No experience, but there is a pretty cool looking one in
July that is in Norway. A 110 person ship with rather
expensive cabins (WAY expensive if you don't want to share a
bathroom).
http://travelwild.com/Svalbard.asp
Tell us how it was!

--

Ray Contreras
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Webmonkey for:
http://www.ossystems.com
http://www.bobs-garage.com
http://www.clanwolverine.org
http://www.rayzplace.com

I'm sure you understand that polar bears are not as warm and fuzzy as they
look. If they can, they will attack you, no quarter given.

When there is ice, they go out onto the ice to feed (on seals). When there
is no ice, they stay on land and wait for the ice to come back

There are two ways to see them: the large tire bear scouting vehicles (as
in Churchill, Canada) where you may get very close during the non ice
season. Do a search for Churchill and polar bears.

Or a cruise ship that goes to the up to the arctic ice where they hunt
(seals). This is generally a summer or late summer trip. You will need
binoculars and, if you want photos, a good telephoto lens.

And, of course, there are never any guarantees that you will see any on
either trip.

The ships that do this are not "cruise ships", they are 100 passenger
adventure travel ships....more austere and lacking the frills of the normal
cruise ship. In addition to looking for bears, they take zodiac excursions
ashore (where the guides carry guns just in case a polar bear shows up that
can't be frightened away.. )

At a minimum, you are look for an "ice hardened" ship; more likely, an ice
breaker.

Many 70 + year olds handle these trips easily as long as they are fit and
mobile.

You might look for my comments on the Kapitan Khlebnikov about a week ago on
this board.

Come back if you want more info.

imd


"loulou" wrote in message
...
My wife and I are very interested in viewing Polar bears.Are there any
cruises recommended for seeing them ,We are in our 70's and are fairly
healthy but not too agile?
Anyone have an experience with such a cruise?
Thanks

"Capt Mary Kidd" wrote in message
...
The message
from "its_my_dime" (hold the .spam)
contains these words:

At a minimum, you are look for an "ice hardened" ship; more likely, an
ice
breaker.

You can see Polar Bears on Spitzbergen.. many regular cruise ships call
at Longyerbyen during the summer months.

--
Pam

I think that is very much like Churchill...on land by vehicle. The
difference between that and seeing them on the ice by ship is that there may
be multiple occasions on a ice trip while there is only the time in
Spitzbergen where they are can be seen.

its_my_dime (hold the .spam) wrote:
"Capt Mary Kidd" wrote in message
...
The message
from "its_my_dime" (hold the .spam)
contains these words:

At a minimum, you are look for an "ice hardened" ship; more likely, an
ice
breaker.

You can see Polar Bears on Spitzbergen.. many regular cruise ships call
at Longyerbyen during the summer months.

--
Pam

I think that is very much like Churchill...on land by vehicle. The
difference between that and seeing them on the ice by ship is that there may
be multiple occasions on a ice trip while there is only the time in
Spitzbergen where they are can be seen.

Churchill......Don't they have underground tunnels to avoid the bears
for safe travel? Cute as they are, they will rip the living poo out of
you. I have a stuffed PB that we call nookeybear and she sits next to
my nav station work area in our wheelhouse....it's my good luck charm.
I had a very cute stuffed seal on one of my older vessels but she went
down with her when she sank in Scituate.

Thus spake "HC_Yacht_Deliveries" :


its_my_dime (hold the .spam) wrote:
"Capt Mary Kidd" wrote in message
...
The message
from "its_my_dime" (hold the .spam)
contains these words:

At a minimum, you are look for an "ice hardened" ship; more likely, an
ice
breaker.

You can see Polar Bears on Spitzbergen.. many regular cruise ships call
at Longyerbyen during the summer months.

--
Pam

I think that is very much like Churchill...on land by vehicle. The
difference between that and seeing them on the ice by ship is that there may
be multiple occasions on a ice trip while there is only the time in
Spitzbergen where they are can be seen.

Churchill......Don't they have underground tunnels to avoid the bears
for safe travel? Cute as they are, they will rip the living poo out of
you. I have a stuffed PB that we call nookeybear and she sits next to
my nav station work area in our wheelhouse....it's my good luck charm.
I had a very cute stuffed seal on one of my older vessels but she went
down with her when she sank in Scituate.

I believe you're right about Churchill. I seem to remember something
about the bears raiding the dump every winter. The big trucks (four
wheel drive busses?) get attacked every so often. No damage, but
clearly a problem.

Polar bears are very nasty, foul mooded creatures. Not as nasty as a
griz or a Kodiak, but dead is dead and they can arrange it just as
well.
--
dillon

Pain is Nature's way of saying "that was stupid"

"Dillon Pyron" wrote in message Polar bears
are very nasty, foul mooded creatures. Not as nasty as a
griz or a Kodiak, but dead is dead and they can arrange it just as
well.
--
dillon

I suspect you may be wrong about that. A griz (brown bear) can, I
understand, be scared off and may back down and walk away. And there is a
recent movie about a guy who interacted with them (at least until they
killed him).

A polar bear will immediately kill you for food. In the unlikely event that
he just ate, he (she) will keep you "on ice" for the next meal. I've never
heard of anybody having any sort of successful polar bear interaction.

"its_my_dime" (hold the spam) wrote in message
...

"Dillon Pyron" wrote in message Polar
bears are very nasty, foul mooded creatures. Not as nasty as a
griz or a Kodiak, but dead is dead and they can arrange it just as
well.
--
dillon

I suspect you may be wrong about that. A griz (brown bear) can, I
understand, be scared off and may back down and walk away. And there is a
recent movie about a guy who interacted with them (at least until they
killed him).

A polar bear will immediately kill you for food. In the unlikely event
that he just ate, he (she) will keep you "on ice" for the next meal. I've
never heard of anybody having any sort of successful polar bear
interaction.

Other than maybe a killer whale... bet they could be rather "successful"
with polar bear interaction...

--Tom

Thus spake "Tom K" :


"its_my_dime" (hold the spam) wrote in message
. ..

"Dillon Pyron" wrote in message Polar
bears are very nasty, foul mooded creatures. Not as nasty as a
griz or a Kodiak, but dead is dead and they can arrange it just as
well.
--
dillon

I suspect you may be wrong about that. A griz (brown bear) can, I
understand, be scared off and may back down and walk away. And there is a
recent movie about a guy who interacted with them (at least until they
killed him).

A polar bear will immediately kill you for food. In the unlikely event
that he just ate, he (she) will keep you "on ice" for the next meal. I've
never heard of anybody having any sort of successful polar bear
interaction.

I saw an example of a "successful" interaction a while back. Took a
..444 Marlin and three shots, the last one at about 20 yards.


Other than maybe a killer whale... bet they could be rather "successful"
with polar bear interaction...

An Orca only goes after things it can readily kill, like great whites.
Of course, if it got a good grip and stayed down long enough.


--Tom

--
dillon

Pain is Nature's way of saying "that was stupid"

Dillon Pyron wrote:
Thus spake "Tom K" :


"its_my_dime" (hold the spam) wrote in message
. ..

"Dillon Pyron" wrote in message Polar
bears are very nasty, foul mooded creatures. Not as nasty as a
griz or a Kodiak, but dead is dead and they can arrange it just as
well.
--
dillon

I suspect you may be wrong about that. A griz (brown bear) can, I
understand, be scared off and may back down and walk away. And there is a
recent movie about a guy who interacted with them (at least until they
killed him).

A polar bear will immediately kill you for food. In the unlikely event
that he just ate, he (she) will keep you "on ice" for the next meal. I've
never heard of anybody having any sort of successful polar bear
interaction.

I saw an example of a "successful" interaction a while back. Took a
.444 Marlin and three shots, the last one at about 20 yards.


Other than maybe a killer whale... bet they could be rather "successful"
with polar bear interaction...

An Orca only goes after things it can readily kill, like great whites.
Of course, if it got a good grip and stayed down long enough.


I remember some documentary that said the most dangerous animal is the
polar bear.