What a day! Full day at sea with sunshine and calm conditions. The stretch up from Norway goes through the Barents Sea. Are we in the North Atlantic or Arctic Ocean? I guess the answer is both; it depends on whom you ask.
The conditions for whale watching could not have been better. We were rewarded -- at least six humpback whales and several pods of white-beaked dolphins. The biological production of the sea is remarkable, as we were able to see with our own eyes.
The afternoon was spent on Bear Island (see the photo), halfway to Spitsbergen. Often this island is covered with fog, but on our arrival the sun was shining. We did a landing and also a nice Zodiac cruise to see the bird cliffs and the extraodinary rock formations.
