The Sysselmannen has decided to anaesthetize the polar bear and to fly it out and far away from Longyearbyen. This was promptly done in cooperation with the Norwegian Polar Institute, which is routinely doing similar operations in connection with field work. The polar bear is now flown out towards the east, to be released somewhere safe and far away from the settlements.
According to Sysselmannen and Norwegian Polar Institute, this operation was more gentle for the polar bear than scaring it away with helicopters.
Two photos from the operation
The polar bear in Adventdalen near Longyearbyen shortly after anaesthetization. Biologists are doing some investigations before it is loaded into the helicopter.
The helicopter with the polar bear on its way to the east.
A polar bear in the close vicinity of Longyearbyen is not an everyday event, it is the first time since October 2014. The police is out with helicopter and snow mobile to make sure the situation is kept under control, while many onlookers are gathering on the rim of Longyearbyen near Adventdalen.
The bear is on the shoreline in Adventdalen, maybe (rough estimate) 2 km away from town. And he (or she?) is the only one who does not care about all the excitement: he is lying, sleeping and doing nothing so far.
Polar bear in Adventdalen, maybe 2 km away from Longyearbyen. The photo was taken from Longyearbyen.
A polar bear was shot on Saturday at Verlegenhuken, on the north coast of Spitsbergen.
A group of four ski tourists from Finnland, on Spitsbergen for a 3 week trip, was on Verlegenhuken when the men were approached by the polar bear. Initially, they could scare it away with a signal pistol, but then the bear approached again and a rifle shot was fired from a distance of 35 metres. The polar bear was wounded and went away. The group alarmed the Sysselmannen. Officials arriving by helicopter managed to find the bear in a snow cave in a cliff and shot it.
The body of the polar bear was taken to Longyearbyen for a post mortem. Until now, it is only known that it was a male bear weighing 116 kg. The weight suggests that it was a young animal, possibly malnutritioned in addition. But this is not confirmed information.
The case will routinely be a matter of police investigation to establish wether or not it was a case of self defense. In case of carelessness, the law opens for fines or even imprisonment.
Several of Spitsbergen’s glaciers are on the move. A rather sudden type of advance called glacial surge is linked to the internal mechanics of ice movement. These glaciers are building up ice volume in the catchment area over decades to discharge this within relatively short time (typically 1-2 years), something that involves rapid movement of up to an impressive 10 meters per day or even more. As a result, surging glaciers are usually strongly crevassed.
This behaviour has recently been observed at Penckbreen (Van Keulenfjord) and Aavaatsmarkbreen. It is also currently known from other Svalbard glaciers. Around 2014, the advance of parts of the ice cap Austfonna has attracted attention.
The surge behaviour is linked to ice dynamics and not to a climatically induced positive mass balance. Altogether, Spitsbergen’s glaciers are suffering from a significant loss of ice volume, with a tendency to increasing speed of loss in recent years due to climate change.
Surging glaciers in Spitsbergen – Penckbreen Surge
The Trappers Trail dog sled race is a good reason to be in Longyearbyen on a certain Saturday in mid April. It has been an annual tradition since 2009. On this weekend, 09th and 10th of April, 26 teams are joining the race in one out of three categories: ski and pulk with one, two or three dogs, while the musher is standing on skies. Dog sled with 3-5 DP (dog powers) and dog sled with 6-8 DP.
The teams are starting at 1200, following upon one another every two minutes, from the area next to Forskingsparken (Svalbardmuseum, UNIS) under cheerful shouting of the onlookers. One or the other team does, of course, make a stop on the left or right side to say hello to a particular friend, something that usually involves the dogs more than the mushers and is part of the fun, which is what it is all about. Then, they disappear in the great white nothing in Adventdalen (it is snowing today).
The race is taking the teams to Kapp Laila in Colesbukta and tomorrow back along another route, a distance of altogether 75 km, including some demanding ascents. A tough trip under a competition, but distance and terrain are well within what trained dog teams regularly do.
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
Over the years, the Trappers Trail dog sled race has built up a good reputation beyond Longyearbyen and it is an established part of the annual series of events that attract both locals and visitors.
This year’s Easter brainteaser brought a surprising and interesting result – none of the answers was right. Maybe I have underestimated the difficulty of the question? It looks like it. Even several seasoned colleagues who should have been there 10 times or more have not recognized the place.
This is even more surprising as the photo does not show an unknown bay, but one of Spitsbergen’s most famous places: Virgohamna on Danskøya. It was Virgohamna where the Swede Salomon August Andrée started his tragic North Pole voyage in 1897, followed by the American Walter Wellman, who started at the same place in 1906, 1907 and 1909, not getting anywhere near the pole either, but with an outcome less tragic.
Because of the history and the Harbour seals that can sometimes be seen there, Virgohamna is a popular place to visit still today. Already the above-mentioned expeditions attracted curious tourists, who came on ships that were anchoring in Virgohamna, just staying and waiting for the expeditions to take off. The old photo must have been taken on one of these occasions.
Still … no right answer. The answers sent in are suggesting Spitsbergen’s real coal harbours: Barentsburg, Colesbukta, Adventfjord, Pyramiden. This is certainly due to the misleading caption. Virgohamna does not have anything with a coal harbour to do, there is no coal anywhere in that area. The newspaper redaction which used the photo did probably not have a more appropriate one, so they used Virgohamna, guessing nobody would know the difference. They were obviously right! This is, of course, mean 🙁 but the landscape features are characteristic, and those who have been there should have had a fair chance 😉 or not? The view shown in the lower, recent image is seen every year by hundreds.
As there is no right answer, but an Easter brainteaser without a winner would be a rather sad affair, a winner was drawn by lot. The price goes to Tommy H. in the Netherlands – congratulations! Tommy will be contacted.
Where is that? The answer: Virgohamna!
A similar view of Virgohamna on a grey summer day in 2015 (looking east from the western end of the bay).
Finnair had announced last year to offer direct flights from Helsinki to Longyearbyen for 3 months in summer 2016. The tickets had been for sale for a while already, but as it turned out now, the Norwegian aviation authority is unable to grant permission for these flights due to a convention between Norway and Finnland from 1978 that regulates air traffic between these two countries. It has later been replaced by an agreement that regulates air traffic in the whole European Economic Area (EEA), but as Svalbard is not part of the EEA, the older convention is still in force here. One is left with the impression that the whole thing is a bureaucratic slip or a fools day joke if this post had been out a day earlier, but it is a fact for the time being.
Finnair has announced not make use of the opportunity to file an official complaint, which might still have led to a short-term change of the legal situation. The company has rather decided to cancel the flights and to re-imburse customers who have already bought a ticket.
The tourism industry in Longyearbyen had already been looking forward to about more 3000 guests during a locally otherwise rather calm season.
Welcome to Longyearbyen airport: currently not for Finnair.