The beauty and the beast
around the islands leaving every couple of hours all day long . A ship is in port only a few hours for cleaning and resupply prior to new passengers boarding and then setting off again . The miracle is that none will land at the same place at the same time while on tour ! Can you imagine planning all that ? If you want to make a change in plans due to conditions while on tour , you must radio the organizing entity , who will try to find another landing for you , if possible . Our ship , the MS Stockholm had 12 passengers and crew and was quite small , being literally dwarfed by the 148-passenger National Geographic Explorer , next to which it sat in port . I sat next to a lady on the plane that was bound for a ship of 550 passengers , so the ships are of all shapes and sizes .
We had 48 polar bear sightings , all were a blend of excitement and apprehension . An average adult male polar bear weighs 850 to 900 pounds ( max . 1,500 pounds ), has a shoulder height of 4.4 feet ( maximum 5.3 feet ) and a length of between 7.9 and 9.8 feet . Females are about half the size of the males .
W I N T E R / H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 2 G I L R O Y T O D A Y 19