Day 5: Reindeer on the final hike

We round out the days on the expedition with kayaking, polar plunging into freezing arctic waters, and a long hike.

The reindeer are remarkably resilient, surviving at the top of the food chain in the most remote of areas.  They do not have predators, as they can outrun ice bears.  Only humans hunt them for their meat.   They are plentiful in places, and remind me of cows in their demeanor and peace.

We find antlers, bones and other traces of reindeer everywhere.  They shed their fur routinely, and lose their antlers once a year.  

This reindeer species came from Siberia, but the ones living in the Svalbard archipelago have evolved into a smaller, more compact species.  Since they have no natural predators, the reindeer have shrunk so that they can have an easier time eating and collecting food over the sparse terrain.