Photos by stevewinterphoto | This haul-out of curious walruses swam around our Zodiac for about a half hour in the northeasternmost waters off Svalbard, Norway. We might have been the first humans they’d seen up close. Not long ago these seas were largely inaccessible, frozen in year-round ice. The Arctic is melting four times as fast as earlier predictions—and I saw the effects everywhere on an expedition to Svalbard in August. The 2022 spring-summer Arctic melt season, when the sun never sets and sea ice retreats, has now ended as the days quickly shorten, with the far north heading back to full winter darkness. It wasn’t record-breaking or news-making for low ice extent—it ranked 10th, tying with 2017 and 2018—but it has been yet another consequential melt season. #arctic #polarbears #walrus