When to visit the Arctic

The ice which has incarcerated the land all winter is beginning to thaw. Warmth is starting to creep back into the north.

Svalbard’s summer visitors start to return, signalled by the arrival of walrus from their more southerly wintering grounds. The emergence of mother polar bears from their dens with last season’s cubs coincides with the birth of ringed seals pups - favourite food of hungry bears!

If you want to fly to the North Pole by helicopter, this is your month, as flights only operate in April.

The western side of Svalbard is now largely ice-free, and by mid-July the Hinlopen Strait is passable enough to allow a full circumnavigation of Spitsbergen. The Canadian High Arctic at last begins to open up for visitors too with the arrival of the first expedition ships.

On the wildlife side, polar bear mating season peaks, walrus aggregate for safety in ‘haul outs’ and egg-laying season attracts the unwanted attentions of opportunist scavengers like gyr falcons, skuas, gulls and arctic fox.

It's peak hatching season and the bird cliffs are in a general frenzy providing bountiful pickings for scavengers and a brief time of plenty for arctic foxes, skuas and gulls. August is also when the narrow channels of Canada’s Arctic archipelago are sufficiently ice-free to allow transits of the fabled Northwest Passage.

As August draws to a close, expedition ships leave Svalbard to head southwards down Greenland's east coast, taking advantage of the brief access before the pack ice closes back in. Walking the autumnal tundra, stalking musk ox and glimpsing the Northern Lights are highlights.

The expedition ship fleet has now departed Arctic waters, sailing south for Antarctica. Temperatures are plummeting and hover below zero. Female polar bears are denning, few seals remain and apart from rock ptarmigan all other birdlife has flown south. Winter is setting in.

For the Canadian town of Churchill - the Polar Bear capital of the World - it's the busiest time of year. Migrating polar bears awaiting the re-freezing of Hudson Bay provide guarantee sightings of the King of the Arctic through October & November each year.

Winter has returned to the ‘Northlands’ and the Arctic is once again incarcerated in its icy girdle. The hours of daylight throughout the region are diminishing. For the people of the Arctic, the onset of winter’s darkness ushers in a time for socialising after the busy summer.

November is a frenetic month in Churchill with ever more polar bears arriving in the area with each passing day. Hunger and close proximity to one another tries their patience as they wait, balanced out by the need to conserve energy.