The Quest for Polar Bears

On the bow of the ship, looking for polar bears.

During our week-long trip around the Svalbard islands last week, we spent many hours searching the pack ice for polar bears. The staff and crew of the ship were on the lookout day and night. They knew that most of the passengers had signed up for the trip because they wanted to see the bears.

The first two bears we saw were very far away.

Distant polar bear on the pack ice.

All the passengers secretly hoped to see a polar bear when we landed for our hikes. The guides hoped the opposite because in fact polar bears are very dangerous. In fact, every guide carries both a rifle and a flare gun whenever on shore, and guides in zodiac boats patrol the coast watching for swimming bears, which are very hard to see. If a bear approaches the hikers, the guides first try to frighten it away, but they are prepared to shoot if the bear appears to threaten the people. They really don't want to do this!

Guides with their rifles and flare pistols.

After days of more and more impatiently waiting and hoping for polar bears, the lookouts finally spotted one that wasn't as far away, and called all the passengers to watch him (or less likely, to watch her -- most female bears at this time of year are accompanied by one or two cubs). First he walked back and forth on the ice for a while. He found some gulls that were eating a bird they had caught, chased them, and stole it. As he was chewing it, he decided to check out the ship.

Walking on the ice.

Eating the prey he had scavenged from two gulls.

The polar bear immediately below the rail of the ship.

Walking away from the ship, still accompanied by one of the gulls he had robbed.

Polar bear warning sign.

Even within the town of Longyearbyen, largest settlement on the Svalbard islands, polar bears are a danger. The sign above warns people that they are leaving the town and should always carry a gun to protect themselves. Last winter a bear wandered through the town, leaving nose prints on some of the windows of the houses. The bear raided the food supplies of the sled-dog kennels; after eating 80 kg of seal meat, he came back for more the next night. Obviously, he thought he'd found a wonderful source of food... so he was trapped and sent to a distant island.

Direction signs and bear warning at the Longyearbyen Airport: the north pole is 1309 km. away.