On return to the ship the hunger was back and it was time for a late second breakfast. That was followed by a lecture by our ice master, giving an overview of his life as an icebreaker captain in the Canadian coastguard.

Prior to lunch we were invited to join for the traditional Hanseatic Pølser Party on the pool deck. Danish-style hot dogs (pølser) were waiting for us, plus a nice selection of drinks (from vodka and sparkling wine to nice hot mulled wine). They even had a crew member in a polar bear costume.

The party came to a sudden end, when the bridge announced a “Polar Bear Alert”. At first I thought it was a joke and simply referring to the crew member dressed up as a polar bear … but when the announcement continued saying portside ahead, it was clear we were dealing with the real thing.

Everyone was on deck now, all with their full photo equipment. At first we were quiet far away, however the captain managed to maneuver the ship closer, so that we really had them just some meters away from the ship. We watched them, they watched us – though they were clearly less impressed of us than us of them.

We now wanted to get further North; from the ice charts, that had been presented the day before, we knew, there was a massive 168 km² ice floe waiting for us just a few miles up North in the Eureka Sound. So … it was not too far to go – however there was still the magic line of 80°N, which we still had to cross – and did just a bit after our turning back into the Eureka Sound.

The trip North did not last too long, at 80° 5’N we hit the ice floe; our captain already had decreased the ship’s speed and was now slowly getting as close as possible. We stayed here for a while – celebrating our position in awe – before turning around and heading South again.
We could have used a gap between the ice floe and Ellesmere Island to pass by and get further North – however had we done so, we would still be up there, with no way back until one of the next summers – so a no-brainer to turn around.

By now we were high up in the North, well beyond 78°, close to 79°. Sunset was now after 23:00, and even then only dusk would take over. Eureka Sound impressions below – judge for yourself 😉