We often are asked the question “What is the best cruise to see Polar Bears?” The very good news is that on many (most) Arctic cruises you have an excellent opportunity to view Polar bears in the wild, often quite close to the ship or zodiac – occasionally on foot or from a kayak. That said there are some areas that have an increased chance.

Currently I’d suggest that a longer cruise to Svalbard (Spitsbergen) has the greatest chance of multiple bear sightings.  Perhaps surprisingly a voyage to the North Pole also has excellent chances of seeing Polar bears (I was fortunate enough to see 7 bears, one 700km from the nearest land).  The maximum number of Polar bears on one trip, that I am aware of, is 54 – many were congregating around a washed up whale carcass.

There are numerous factors that need to be considered:

 Luck – probably the single most important factor, well that and the number of people looking.

Sea-ice conditions – bears like seals, seals like broken sea-ice

Duration of cruise – more time = more opportunity (Svalbard Circumnavigation)

OTHER FACTORS

Currently in Svalbard after June 1st you have to keep a distance of 300 metres from bears.

To counter this regulation many ships head North to the edge of the sea-ice which is in international waters and hence the regulations on Svalbard do not apply.  The sea-ice edge allows seals to haul-out and bears to hunt.

Greenland has bears, but few our seen in the South – most live in the less inhabited, less often visited, North.

In Canada, Baffin Island, there are similar approach guidelines to Svalbard.

Where bears are still hunted they are obviously more nervous as well as less often seen.

If, like me, seeing one of these amazing creatures is high on the list then I suggest one of the following voyages;

Svalbard In-Depth

Svalbard Circumnavigation

Northwest Passage

North Pole

If you choose another Arctic cruise you will still have the chance of seeing bears, the above voyages simply increase the chances.

Sleeping of its meal.  Walrus keeping a close watch.  Spitsbergen.

How many will I see?

Hopefully at least one, often ten or more and as I mentioned above,  if you’re lucky you could see over 50 bears on one trip. Whilst there is no guarantee you’ll see them there’s a very high chance on the below voyages.

Svalbard Circumnavigation
Baffin Island
North Pole

Voyages with a lower chance of seeing Polar bears are ones that travel around the South of Greenland and perhaps even the Northwest Passage trips that operate late in the season; often when a lot of the sea-ice has gone. Bears like/need sea-ice – as that’s where they find seals hauled out to rest/sleep. As the sea-ice declines that’s when bears move or change what they feed on.

Should I be worried?

The short answer is no. Your expert naturalist guides and expedition staff have many years of experience and training. They want to make sure that both you, and any bears you may see, are safe and that encounter is one that leaves the bear unmolested. In the Arctic we follow the ‘no disturbance principle’.
Any landing site is well scoped out before you go ashore – if bears are seen too close to where it is planned to land – you won’t go ashore – bears have priority.
As a very last resort (and the plan is to never get into a situation where use of devices is necessary) all guides have bear deterrent devices (flares etc) and a smaller number of highly trained guides carry firearms. It appears that all the training works as the vast majority of voyages have safe bear encounters where no devices are required.