Beaufort Sea, Alaska, July 25th: A crow's nest, a polar bear and a birthday
- Vicou the Sea Gypsy
- Sep 5, 2018
- 2 min read
What's better than seeing the polar ice cap? Nothing you say? Miscreant is what I should call you, but you are at this moment taking some of your precious time to read this, so I will label you more conventionally an unimaginative individual (unless it's you Mom, then obviously none of this applies to you you are the best … but then if you aren't reading this shame on you … I will never know).
Where was I? … ah yes better then ice bla bla miscreant bla bla and the thing than can top this is (drum roll please) ... a POLAR BEAR!!! The title gave it up didn't it?
There I was, half way up the crow's nest and well below the spinning radar, waiting to fry my precious remaining brain cells. The sea was calm, once again, and I was looking out for the clearest route ahead in a sea of mildly packed ice. The sun was there and one could almost say the nasty little bit of cold was chased away by the pale Arctic summer light.
Looking ahead, I spot in the distance (at least three miles … or a few hundred meters), a shadow sticking up from the ice, oddly shaped, unmoving. My gaze (I like the idea of me gazing, it makes me look poetic and dreamy) settles on it for a few seconds and is about to scan further ahead, as I am taking a breath in to shout a starboard suggestion. The shadow moves. My thoughts start to formulate a coherent and professional sentence, such as: “Clem, if you sort of aim on the right over there, behind that big tyrannosaurus-looking chunk of icy, we should be sweet”.
The shadow gallops into a bear, which plunges into the icy waters of the Beaufort Sea, and my thoughts scramble, my breath catches and all that comes out is a whisper: “... polar bear …”.
And a second later: “ POLAR BEAR, PORTSIDE, TEN O'CLOCK, THREE HUNDRED METERS, BEHIND THE ISLAND SIZED FLAT BERG, MOVING AWAY AND TOWARDS THE BOOOOOOOOOW MOTHA FU**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”.
Thanks to Ayack Wanderer for capturing the moment.
And a narwhal piñata, many drinks and a bit of extra mileage later, we arrived in Stockton Island, stage of the 2018 Arctic Summer Highland Games. Photos by Tara Oestreich and Manuela Legorreta.
Yours in growing excitement,
Vicou the Sea Gypsy
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