Every day for us is punctuated by an event that makes the moment memorable. Today was particularly special, we had our first encounter with a polar bear, the lord of the Arctic. This afternoon a young bear approached within meters of Tara. With a curious eye and nose held high he seemed intrigued by this strange foreign object in the ice. Zagreb was soon onto the scent, proving his worth as our polar bear early warning system. However Tiksi, the pup, still has a lot to learn and was more interested in playing with the paparazzi on the deck. After a month with very little sign of other life in this polar desert we are all happy to finally meet one of the locals. However, we are now evermore aware of one of the potential hazards of venturing onto the sea ice.