I heard from two good photographer friends that the Lindlad Expedition Boat Trip cosponsored by National Geo to The Arctic was not to be missed..You have to listen to your friends right? I am Glad we did!!

 My wife and I did go on the last Arctic expedition in Late June this year 2013. Our expectations were exceeded in every way. We’ve all heard about how imperiled the habitat is due to warming there and now that we’ve gone, we share the expressed concern over the future for Polar Bears, Walrus, Reindeer and other unusual animal life!

 We flew through Iceland and on to Oslo for an interesting overnight before departing to the northern Islands of Svalbard located on the Arctic Circle where we got on our ship, the Endeavor.

 Over seven days we say 23 Polar Bears on ice flows doing various fascinating things including cubs nursing, Big Bears eating recent kills, and even a Polar bear trying to board our ship..I was within 10 feet of that guy and it was quiet an experience believe me. The Walrus were fun to watch with some of them getting close to 2 tons in weight..There was more..The bird life endemic to the area as well as the flowers blooming had their own magic and all of this was surrounded by a vast largeness that very hard to describe. From the ship, sizeable, carrying 148 people, we could see age old glaciers, flow ice and many mountains located on islands we passed by.

 I felt dwarfed always in this splendor. and, since we were there in the summer, we had daylight 24 hours around..

 An added plus for me is that i was able to spend time and get tips from National Geo cover photographer Michael Melford.

 I claim to love underwater photography first, but this trip gives me pause..Seeing the Polar bears doing their thing qualified as a top experience for me.

 I did a pretty good job of getting the essence of The Arctic. I hope you enjoy my photos!