On this trip explored Kraemerpyten with a great Polar Bear with cub. at the east end of Kvitoya and the whole of Svalbard. Also amongst the few to land and visit the Andree memorial at the west end of Kvitoya where the men on the ill fated balloon expedition of 1897 perished. And earlier in the trip even managed to step ashore at Virgohamna where the balloon expedition set out from in NW Spitsbergen in the failed attempt to drift across the North Pole. There were spectators who watched Andree and his team set off in the hot air balloon in1897, then they vanished. It was 33 years later in 1930 that the remains of the three men were found on remote Kvitoya, along with the journal and the camera with pictures of the balloon on the ice, that had come down under the Wright of ice on the balloon. Not many Svalbard trips land at Virgohamna and Kvitoya. #kvitoya #svalbard #virgohamna #spitsbergen #polarbear #polartourismguides #arcticexperience #seaspirit https://www.instagram.com/p/CfsxyqZjBiK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

The way to do a polar plunge and to celebrate, in my white jacket, my birthday, coming along tomorrow! #polarplunge #svalbard #whitejacket #poseidon @kevinmorgan2157 #antarcticambassadors #polartourismguides #PTGA #juneborn https://www.instagram.com/p/CfCR69Jjp4A/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Hourglass Dolphins. This picture was taken a year ago, Feb 16th 2020, in the South Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, on route from the Falklands to South Georgia and close to the Antarctic Convergence. One pelagic species of dolphin can be seen so far south, close to the convergence, the Hourglass Dolphin. It is small, really fast, and on the few occasions they come alongside a ship, encounters tend to very brief, as if they check out the ship then lose interest and move on. This means they are difficult to spot, let alone get a picture, and the few that tend to get a fleeting view, are the smokers on the stern deck! Finally, after so many times of missing out on a sighting, or a brief glimpse with no chance of a photo, on this occasion I was lucky since I had my camera with me and I got this picture! #kevthenatureguide #hourglassdolphin #southernocean #southatlantic #falklands #southgeorgiaisland #gadventures #g_expedition #ptga #polartourismguides #polartourismguidesassociation #antarcticambassadors https://www.instagram.com/p/CLWR8TEDj6P/?igshid=h8k7fmxg95y0

ONE YEAR ON. One year ago I arrived home on March16th, the last Antarctic cruise of the season cancelled as the World went into lockdown. Coming into the Heathrow there were no checks, the UK behind other countries starting to lock down. Restrictions were still a week away. Looking back, just one week earlier would have made a lot of difference. Few of us expected to be in the same position one year on, travel and socialising looking bleak for months yet. It has been so tough with the work I was passionate about, gone As a ' seafarer' I have no furlough, and with savings no chance of Universal credit. At least I have a bit of naturalist work and survey work in the UK, but not much. It's been the first time I have had all this spare time at home in ages. So it has been frustrating not being able to for a drink in a pub with a large group, dance, go to a gig, attend a workshop or a talk (zoom is OK but it is not the same). Or what I always liked to do, get in the car and go off exploring wildlife spots and contacting a friend on route (often last minute!). If it was in another part of the country, crashing out at their place and having a chat. I have been lucky to have my own house and garden, to go for local walks and bike rides, like along the Hogsmill river and the other open spaces we have in Epsom and Ewell. Also exploring the Surrey Hiils and to drive further afield when restrictions were at a lower level, even getting to the Breacon Beacons. But thinking of some seafarers and staff on cruise ships, single but active people like me, who rent out a small flat, apartment, or room, with little to explore locally. For them the last year has been like an open prison with no release date, with no income and paying for food and rent. Here is to the end of lockdown, across the World, and we must all strive to protect our local green spaces, and wilderness areas at home and abroad, and a better health system for all. #ewell #hogsmillnaturereserve #hortoncountrypark #epsomcommon #nonsuchpark #priesthillnaturereserve #wildgardens #gardenponds #gadventures #g_expedition #noblecaledonia #ptga #polartourismguides #kevthenatureguide #antarcticambassadors (at Ewell) https://www.instagram.com/p/CMeoUtyj2at/?igshid=1vs1jbsqv37oq

ONE YEAR AGO IN PARADISE These pictures were taken exactly a year ago on 11th March 2020 on the last day of an awesome Antarctic Peninsula and Antarctic Circle cruise at the end of an amazing season. After going through the Errera Channel we did a Zodiac cruise of Fournier Bay with Humpbacks galore. Leaving Antarctica we even had some Orca as we headed back across the Drake Passage to Ushuaia. We had one more cruise to go to the end the season, but, back in Ushuaia, on the change over day, with eager passengers waiting to board, the World started to go into lockdown, and it was a rush to get everyone home. Now it is approaching a year of lockdown, no small ship cruising, no travelling with the start of second Arctic season looking bleak, no dancing, no going into crowded music gigs with the atmosphere, and no cuddling for those of us that are single. I am thankful for my own house and garden, places to explore, and a love of nature. For staff and seafarers in small apartments back home it must be like an open prison, with no release date, and you have to pay for your own food and rent, and with no income (no furlough for most seafarers). How much longer before small ship cruising and ecotourism can start. Will it be 15 months since the start of restrictions. 18 months? 2 years? Everyone is waiting for more news and I am deeply concerned about ecotourism ventures and projects going under with the hard work people have put in. Around this time I should have been in the Caribbean. One place on the agenda was the famous Asa Wright Centre in Trinidad. There for years, for decades, with amazing birds, and one of the pioneer ecolodges and places to go for a visit, it has now permanently closed. I look back to 11th March 2020 and how special it was, another time. #antarcticpeninsula #kevthenatureguide #errerachannel #humpbackwhales #leopardseal #antarcticambassadors #polartourismguidesassociation #polartourismguides #PTGA #Gadventures #g_expedition #trinidad #asawrightcentre #noblecaledonia. (at Errera Channel) https://www.instagram.com/p/CMRy-3TDiv9/?igshid=2d9i1lsaulng

It is Polar Bear week so here are some pictures of a few bears on my Svalbard trips. I did miss them this year! #polarbear #polarbears #svalbardwildlife #Gadventures #gexpedition #polartourismguides #gexpdteam #kevthenatureguide #icebear #nanook #arcticexperience #arcticwildlife (at Svalbard) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHQyO6CjJB2/?igshid=16cl8vnavbd0t

Greenland Dock (and South Dock). I am from the suburbs of SW London& don't get to explore SE London much. A few days ago I explored the Surrey Docks and Greenland Dock. One of the oldest, and the furthest up the Thames to take large ships, it was built from 1695 and was called the Howland Great Wet Dock and used to refit East India ships. The named changed from the 1720s as Greenland whalers used the dock and blubber boiling houses were built by the dock. As the whaling declined it became the centre of the London timber trade, and in 1865 various docks came part of the Surrey Commercial docks. A lot of names come from this time including Finland Dock, Russia Dock, Norway Dock, Swedish Yard, Baltic Wharf, Brunswick Yard, and Canada Water. Greenland Dock was expanded from 1895 to 1904 (by Sir John Wolfe-Barry who built Tower Bridge) and it could take Cunard liners, including ships that took passengers and cargo to the St. Lawrence River and the ancestors of many Canadians may have departed the Old World from this dock. During the Blitz 80 years ago oil drums were attached to bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe and with all the timber the docks turned into a firestorm. After the war there was prosperity for a short while then the docks went into decline, closing in 1970. Derelict for over 10 years, today there are lots of luxury developments, a bit of contrast to the whaling days. The dock does look across to an area of modern trading (and exploitation!?), the Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf. #greenlanddock #surreydocks #arcticexperience #PTGA #polartourismguides #canadawater #battleofbritain #theblitz #londonblitz #russiadock #finlanddock #norwaydock #balticquay #southdock #whaling #greenlandwhalefishers #cunardline #cunard #cunardwalk #eastindiacompany #whalingship #swedishquay #brunswickquay #rotherhithe (at Greenland Dock) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFXJyczj0tp/?igshid=11c1f4pjqd3bi