But meanwhile...
The variety of land mammal life on Spitsbergen may be pretty low, with just four species (three if you count Polar Bear as a marine mammal, and one of those is an introduced population of the Sibling Vole), but the marine mammals are pretty great, as are the lovely, stumpy Svalbard Caribou (currently thought of as an endemic subspecies, but such a different creature from the leggy beasts of Canada!).
I suspect we were a little unlucky in 'only' finding a couple of Minke Whales and a possible, maybe, distant Sei Whale amongst the cetaceans (in particular, Beluga are out there in good numbers, while Orca, Fin Whale, Humpback Whale and some of the northern dolphins might be expected too). But when you've got Walruses bobbing about in the surf inspecting the zodiacs at close range, little parties of porpoising Harp Seals around the pack ice, the occasional 'massive sausage' Bearded Seal floating past on a floe and an oh-so-friendly Ringed Seal playing with our kayaks... who needs Arctic Fox after all that, anyway? It's always good to have something to come back for...
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