Polar Bears and Sled Dogs
If Longyearbyen has a Claim to Fame, it would probably be the fact that the local Polar Bears are a genuine threat to survival. There are only a few apex predators that will actually hunt down and snack on humans……. they include some of the big cats, (leopards and tigers) the big Nile and saltwater crocodiles, and Polar Bears. The rest of the ‘feared’ critters are dangerous only when frightened, or if they feel the need to defend themselves, but not because they want to chomp on us.
Sighting a Polar Bear is a rarity, but not uncommon enough to NOT have defensive measures in place up here where so many humans live in proximity to so many bears. This aspect of life up here has led to the actual Warning Signs becoming somewhat of a tourist attraction themselves.
Photos are mandatory!
The rules of engagement are also mandatory if you decide to step outside of the town limits. Here you will find those signs and sometimes the listed rules. In fact, the Town has scheduled “New Guy” meetings to help newbies get acclimated to life up here and one of the topics has to do with how not to become a PBS (Polar Bear Statistic)
One of the rules is that you MUST have a rifle or flare gun with you if you travel outside those town limits!
We learned all about this stuff and about Husky Sled Dogs on an excursion that took us about 10 km outside of town, well into that Polar Bear Zone. Our destination was Barentz Camp, the actual spot where Willem Barentz, in a rudimentary cabin built with the wood from his stranded ship, over wintered in 1596 with seventeen men from his crew. His name should be familiar to you if you were paying attention back in Geography class because the Barents Sea (which is right here between Norway and Russia) is named for him.
This is legitimate tundra area with genuine permafrost
Luckily one of the crew sketched, in detail, the cabin. And almost two-hundred-years later the ruins were still in good enough shape to verify those original drawings. These were used to reconstruct the cabin that sits here today.
The ‘camp’ is now home to a dog sledding operation that provides any kind of dog sledding expedition that you could want, from a few hours to a few days, all year ‘round. We went there to learn about this activity and get schooled in Polar Bears. We were able to meet some of the retired dogs who were very friendly, and a few of the ‘mushers’, and then go into a warming hut, have some snacks and hot bev’s, and then see a presentation on the bears.
Here are a few of the interesting facts that we learned about Polar Bears,
They can smell prey (usually a seal) as far away as 18 miles, and sniff them out from under three feet of ice and almost a mile away!
There are two types of bears around here, one is the ‘local’ kind. These number about 250 bears that live around Longyearbyen. The other ones are the ‘pelagic’ kind that move around and live in the water amongst the ice floes.
Since the 1970’s there have been six fatalities and twelve serious injuries from bear attacks. On average, two bears are killed each year in self-defense.
They can swim almost two hundred miles and can sprint at about 22MPH for several hundred yards. After that, because of their dense fat layers, they overheat quickly and need to stop or jump in the water to cool down. But that’s not much of a safety margin because the average human can run only about 15 MPH for short bursts! And if you have a full “Snack Suit” (parka, snow pants, etc.) on, your speed decreases significantly and the PB has no problem getting you out of that Snack Suit!
They live on average of fifteen to twenty-five years with oldest known local one here getting to thirty-two years old. The kiddos hang with Mom for about two years and their biggest threat to survival sometimes is a large male PB, who will kill and eat them if he can get past Mom!
Today is a day on the water. We embark on a ‘Safari’ in quest of any kind of wildlife that is presenting itself for our viewing pleasure. One of yesterday’s forays had the chance encounter with a walrus. That would be a good one for us!
We shall see!
Report and (hopefully!) photos tomorrow!