Polar Bear Woken by Foghorn in Svalbard, Man Fined Rs 4.5 Lakh
Synopsis
A bizarre encounter in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago has landed a person in trouble after they used a ship’s foghorn to wake a sleeping polar bear.
A bizarre encounter in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago has landed a person in trouble after they used a ship’s foghorn to wake a sleeping polar bear. The incident took place earlier this month when a vessel was sailing through a fjord in north-western Svalbard, roughly 1,000km (620 miles) from the North Pole. The occupants reportedly spotted a polar bear resting on land and, in an unusual move, sounded the vessel’s foghorn.
On Thursday, the Governor of Svalbard confirmed that an unnamed individual had been fined 50,000 kroner (£3,890) for the incident.
Governor Lars Fause said in a statement that when the vessel sailed past the animal "its occupants are said to have spotted a polar bear sleeping on land".
"A person on board then used the ship's foghorn, waking the animal, which moved to another location."
The individual has agreed to pay the fine.
Svalbard has strict rules protecting its fragile Arctic wildlife. Under local regulations, "it is forbidden to needlessly disturb, attract or pursue a polar bear". The species has been protected in Svalbard since 1972.
The archipelago is home to a significant polar bear population, with about 250 bears recorded during the last scientific estimate in 2015.
The latest incident is not the first time visitors have faced penalties for disturbing wildlife in the region. In 2024, a tourist was fined 11,500 kroner (£900) for getting too close to a walrus.
The Svalbard Environment Act requires all traffic in the archipelago to be conducted in a manner that avoids unnecessary disruption to wildlife, including polar bears, seals, whales, reindeer and Arctic foxes.