We finally made it into the pack ice, with a final position of 81°18' N, 22°2' E.
We spent the morning just cruising through the ice, spotting lots of seals but no polar bears.
In the afternoon was a lecture on fog, followed by a chance to go out and walk around on an ice floe. We opted out of that one.
At some point, we did some "citizen science" by participating in a bird count. You spend 20-30 minutes watching for birds and calling out what you see, checking in with either Gaby or Adrien for confirmation. Then the total is submitted to EBird, which is run by Cornell University. There weren't many, but no data is still data. A few kittiwakes, some Black Guillemots, a couple of Arctic Terns....and then at the very last second, the elusive Ivory Gull! Sheila technically saw it...at least, she saw the flying white speck that ornithologist Adrien SAID was an Ivory Gull. Not as satisfying as actually seeing it well enough to identify it herself, but it will have to do for now.
Sorry to anyone who has been posting comments...I haven't been getting notifications, so just noticed them. I hope I've now seen them all. It's very encouraging to hear from folks, so keep 'em comin'!
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