Quick, before global warming has the waters of the high Arctic bubbling, well-established 28-year old Peregrine Adventures offers 10-day trips to the island of Spitsbergen (Norway), way north (690 nautical miles) of the Arctic Circle aboard their former sonar research vessel, The Voyager.  Their ever-adaptable Zodiacs then thread through Svalbard, a pristine, awesome archipelago so that their highly skilled professional guides can get as close as they dare to polar bear, walrus, and those cute bearded seals.  As you might imagine, departures are in summer only. www.peregrineadventures.com/