After a formal education in Forest Management and Nature Conservation, Rinie started to travel in search of wildlife, although, he was already attracted by the Polar Regions since his youth. He knew; to explore the pack ice in the high Arctic Ocean that was his goal. In 1989, he accepted a job on board a small ship as a potato peeler for his first season in Spitsbergen, (Svalbard). After he came back he knew he was definitely hooked on the high latitudes. Since ’89, he has made around Spitsbergen more than 200 expedition cruises and he has logged in his sea man’s book a total of over 350 voyages including; Norway, East- and West Greenland, the Canadian high Arctic, Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, Geographical North Pole, Antarctica, South Georgia, the Falklands, and many islands along the Atlantic Ridge.
Over the last 31 years he had the opportunity to study and photograph many Polar Bears in the pack ice; he has become passionate about these magnificent animals as well as other Arctic wildlife and has developed a broad interest in the entire sea ice ecosystem and marine life.

Get to know Rinie and his passion for the Arctic in our recent interview with him:

Read the interview »