91Èȱ¬

We were just north of 80 degrees north when the expedition leader, Troels, made his wake-up announcement over the tannoy and we needed to get further north still in order to be within the zone of totality, which was not going to be easy, owing to the amount of sea ice.Ìý The conditions were overcast and the temperature was 3 degrees Celsius and during the morning we saw several ringed seals and one bearded seal hauled out on the ice.

Walrus, Svalbard

As we made our way slowly north we had occasional glimpses of the sun’s partially obscured disc through the cloud and as the critical moment approached we made it into the zone of totality – just!

At 1146 local time (0946 GMT) we were at 80 degrees and 14 minutes north and 31 degrees and 46 minutes East (584 miles from the North Pole) and, although the sun itself was obscured, we could see the umbral shadow racing towards us from the west.

The sky went gradually darker and to the west we could see a narrow strip of sunshine above the horizon where the total eclipse had already passed.

The moment of totality was very eerie as a leaden gloom descended in the land of the midnight sun for 30 seconds - a real once-in-a-lifetime experience.ÌýIt got light again much quicker than it had become dark and I wondered what the animals and birds had thought as their summer world of 24-hour daylight had been plunged into darkness.

After the eclipse

Everyone was elated as we began to make our way back south through the sea ice and as we did so we came upon a large group of walruses hauled out on the ice.ÌýThere were males, females and youngsters all together (which is quite unusual) so the decision was made to launch the inflatable zodiacs in order to get a closer look.

In our flotilla of five zodiacs we approached the walruses slowly and cautiously, but not so close so as to unsettle the animals and we enjoyed wonderful views of them relaxing on the ice.ÌýThe walruses were lying together, almost as though they were huddled together for warmth, with the youngsters lying on top of the adults, which was quite comical.

The sun was now trying to break through, so it was somewhat brighter than it had been earlier in the day.ÌýThere were two quite large groups of walrus and a lone pair and it was this pair that would provide the closest encounter.

The male was absolutely enormous, with spectacular tusks and he didn't seem at all concerned by the presence of the Zodiacs.ÌýThe female, however, was watching us intently and it seemed almost as though the male was quite happy for the female to see us off as long as he didn't have to do anything.

The female moved closer to the edge of their little ice floe and then slid gracefully into the water.ÌýShe swam towards us quite quickly, calling all the time – a low grunting honk – and Troels decided that we should retreat and make our way back to the Aleksey Maryshev (walrus tusks have been known puncture zodiacs).

Back on board, we were greeted with a celebratory glass of mulled wine, which seemed an entirely appropriate way to toast what had been a spectacular and unforgettable day.

Making our way south we were once more surrounded by our now familiar Arctic birds, including long-tailed and pomarine skuas and, fittingly for such an auspicious day, another swimming polar bear.

You can watch footage of the solar eclipse on Stephen's Video Nation film.