A person aboard a vessel in Norway's Svalbard archipelago has been fined $5,255 for using a ship's foghorn to wake a sleeping polar bear, the governor of the territory announced Thursday. The individual agreed to pay the fine, according to the governor's office.
Norway fines person $5,255 for waking sleeping polar bear with foghorn in Arctic
A person aboard a vessel in Norway's Svalbard archipelago has been fined $5,255 for using a ship's foghorn to wake a sleeping polar bear, the governor of the territory announced Thursday. The individual agreed to pay the fine, according to the governor's office.
The incident took place earlier in August when the vessel was sailing in a fjord in northeastern Svalbard. The vessel's occupants spotted a polar bear sleeping on land, after which one person sounded the foghorn, causing the animal to wake and move to another location, the governor said in a statement.
Under local regulations, it is forbidden to needlessly disturb, attract, or pursue a polar bear. The species was declared protected in Svalbard in 1972. Neither the identity nor the nationality of the person fined has been disclosed.
Approximately 260 polar bears were counted in the Svalbard archipelago during the most recent scientific estimate, carried out in 2015.
A study published in January, led by Jon Aars, a senior scientist with the Norwegian Polar Institute, tracked the weight and size of nearly 800 bears in Svalbard between 1992 and 2019 and found the bears to be in good condition and continuing to raise cubs. Aars told CBS News his team's findings suggested the bears may be adapting to reduced sea ice, with prey potentially becoming more concentrated in smaller areas.
- The source does not state the name or flag state of the vessel involved.
- The source does not identify the nationality or identity of the person fined.
- The source does not state whether any additional legal proceedings or penalties beyond the fine are being considered.
- The source does not state how the 2015 polar bear population estimate of 260 compares to earlier counts, or whether a more recent count has been conducted.
- The source does not identify the contributor referenced in the line 'contributed to this report.'