Sailing Polarisvideo
#82 / Expedition Svalbard – Too Close? Polar Bear Encounter in the High Arctic
15 February 2026 · 26 min · 2K views · Barentsburg, Svalbard
Polar bear sits upright on Svalbard tundra, alert against rocky shore.
What this video covers
Polaris, a Dufour Yachts 56, encounters a polar bear, walruses, and whales during a northward expedition through Svalbard's fjords in early July. Crossing Isfjorden toward the glacier Borebreen, the crew meets walruses in open water — unusual, since the animals typically haul out on shore — before finding a second haulout at Nansenbreen.▶ 1:15 Temperatures hold around 6–7°C with 90% relative humidity throughout.▶ 3:50 A stop at Barentsburg, the Russian coal-mining settlement in Grønfjorden, reveals a Soviet-era atmosphere: a coal-fired power station, a Lenin statue on the hillside, roughly 400 permanent residents from Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan, and a Russian consulate the locals call the Cytadel.▶ 4:20 The harbor offers two floating pontoons; the outer berth costs 460 Norwegian kroner per night plus electricity.▶ 12:41 Sailing north through Forlandsund with 13–14 knots of wind and a 2-knot favorable tide, the crew anchors at Pulepinten — a known walrus haulout — where an alpha male polar bear approaches the anchored boats closely.▶ 17:16 A 40-nautical-mile fog passage to Ny-Ålesund follows, with visibility below half a mile, radar overlay on an iPad mirroring the below-decks display, and buddy-boating alongside the motor vessel Arctic Light.▶ 22:13 Ny-Ålesund is described as the northernmost point Polaris plans to reach on this expedition.▶ 26:17
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