On our morning shore visit our Zodiacs headed to the hunter cabin and beluga carnage at Bamsubu.

I was on the first Zodiac ashore and I planned to sketch the hunting cabin amid the bones. The rustic cabin, built by Arctic necessity rather than true craftsmanship, stood on a rise and I sketched it in with my brush pen.

I was originally told that I would have little time to sketch during landings because the group had to keep moving and we didn’t have prolonged stops. But it was the photographers that slowed up the groups not a lone Corvidsketcher with sketchbook and pen.

Within ten minutes I had finished two sketches, one of the cabin and the other a beluga whale skull.

We arranged ourselves into three different hiking groups, I chose the medium hike led by our expedition leader Phillipp.

We headed up the hill to look at a stone cairn, once a lookout for belugas. Phillipp announced to the group that he had something to show us and we headed inland, away from the cabin and carnage. Here we came upon some other carnage. This time younger bones and hair. White hair. It could he from the Svalbard reindeer but the claw spoke of the ice bear.

Well I had finally seen a polar bear. . . Ish. The bears live by feast and famine with a high mortality rate for the young ones and the rising temperatures at the poles are diminishing their hunting platforms, sea ice, for their favorite meal, the bearded seal.

After reflecting on the former bear we headed uphill to a rocky outcrop with a commanding view of the fjord. Once at the top, Phillipp had a challenge for us: find a spot, sit quietly for five minutes, and take in the sounds of the Arctic. In outdoor ed terms this is called a silent sit.

I reinterpreted it as a silent sketch. Challenge accepted.