My second visit to Svalbard this year - the first was in winter, now this one in summer! A private trip with 18 days on board the ice-strengthened expedition ship MS Origo, led by one of Svalbard's most experience guides, Rinie van Meurs. We had great success way north of the archipelago up in the pack ice of the polar ice gap. Here a number of highly inquisitive bears came into the vicinity of the ship, giving us great views over many hours. Towards the end of the trip we returned to the islands, and found a number of bears feeding on a washed up sperm whale carcass. All in all, an extremely successful trip. My thanks to Morten Jorgensen and Nazomi Takeyabu for organising the charter.