Arctic Cruise: Tara's Photo Journey

Our operations manager, Tara Sutherland completed a circumnavigation of Spitsbergen, Norway! Tara departed on the cruise on 22nd July 2019 sailing for 13 days.

"The feeling of being so isolated was one of the most incredible experience", says Tara "and the fact that we got to see over 20 polar bears, from a distance through".

Due to the ice conditions, this was the first time the ship has made it all the way around Spitsbergen in 2019. Tara also braved the cold water by taking the Polar Plunge. She bravely jumped into the ice strewn water, which was measured at 2 degrees (35.6F) at 80° 40'N and 016° 449'E.

The cruise headed north and around the island of Spitsbergen, exploring smaller, outlying islands. The variety of incredible wildlife and geological formations found here is astounding. As for the largest land carnivore in the world, searching for polar bears is a constant activity for the expedition team on board. Phippsøya and Isbukta are two of the bears' preferred places for hunting, which translates into great potential for you to capture them in action.

Viva Expeditions has a wide variety of Arctic cruises which include Greenland, Iceland, Spitsbergen and even the Russian and Canadian Arctic! For more information on these cruises, click HERE!

See all our Arctic Cruises

Polar Bear on an Ice Pack

Ice Seas

Beautiful landscape in the Arctic

Boat Tour in the Arctic

Arctic Cruise

Hiking in Spitsbergen