Sea ice and a change of plan

This morning we were higher than 81 degrees north, less than 600 km from the North Pole.

We were near the edge of the sea ice, with nothing but this between us and the magnetic pole. Fantastic views and amazing scenes (extras.) This senior member of the crew was outside taking photos.

It would have been nice to have a polar bear on an ice floe but it wasn’t to be. I looked out carefully for a polar bear footprint…..

We were slowly cutting our way through, marvelling at the huge floes of ice and their colours, when we suddenly, it seemed, speeded up and headed away.

A medical emergency. We have to get back to Longyearben, the nearest hospital and airport. 

The captain and expedition leader called us together and explained. 

We just hope our poorly colleague (passenger, staff or crew) is ok.

They haven’t ever told us the plans for the next day until eight pm. This is indeed a magical mystery tour. We’ve reached our highest point, and technically will have circumnavigated Svalbard. 

Watch this space.

Edit. No news of our colleague but we’re certainly not missing out. Wonderful scenery and weather as we retraced our steps a little. I’ve added an extra.