An individual has been fined 50,000 kroner (approximately £3,890) for using a ship's foghorn to wake a sleeping polar bear in Norway's Svalbard archipelago. The incident occurred earlier this month in a fjord in northwestern Svalbard, approximately 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the North Pole.
Officials confirmed the fine on Thursday. Under local regulations, it is prohibited to needlessly disturb, attract, or pursue polar bears, which have been a protected species in Svalbard since 1972. The governor of the territory, Lars Fause, stated that occupants of a vessel spotted the polar bear sleeping on land. A person on board then used the ship's foghorn, causing the animal to move.
The individual has accepted the penalty. This is not the first instance of fines being issued for wildlife disturbances in the region. In 2024, a tourist received a 11,500 kroner (£900) fine for approaching a walrus too closely.
The Svalbard Environment Act mandates that all activities in the archipelago must be conducted in a manner that avoids unnecessary disturbance to local wildlife. This includes species such as polar bears, seals, whales, reindeer, and arctic foxes. The most recent scientific estimate, conducted in 2015, counted approximately 250 polar bears in the archipelago.