By Robbie Mallett and Sophie Watson
This blog informally documents the advice given in Ny-Ålesund and is not written as formal guidance for those planning fieldwork. It is written by PhD students to provide insight, and is no substitute for qualified advice and training!
We were lucky enough to be among ten polar science PhD students who recently travelled to Svalbard with the British Antarctic Survey for a course on safe and effective polar fieldwork. We had an amazing time on land and at sea, but throughout all our work we had to remain constantly vigilant for polar bears. Mitigating the risk of a bear attack involved learning about polar bear behaviour and training with flare guns and rifles. Here’s a summary of how we learned to stay safe in bear country!
Why are polar bears dangerous?
There are thought to be around three thousand polar bears on the Svalbard islands; that’s more polar bears than there are humans. As the largest of all bear species, adult males weigh around 500 kg, but one (nightmare-inducing) specimen killed in Alaska weighed just over a tonne - landing it straight into the Guinness book of animal world records.
Polar bears are fast runners over short distances and are also very capable hunters under-water. They can run up to 40kph (faster than the 100m sprint world record) and swim at up to 6.2kph (faster than the 50m freestyle world record). As the most carnivorous extant bear, polar bear teeth are pointier and sharper than their omnivore bear buddies. They also have huge paws, adapted for swimming and walking on ice.
Polar bears don't defend territories largely because their ranges are so huge - they occupy areas of tens of thousands of square kilometers. Despite this, they are notoriously defensive around their cubs or when inadequately fed. With recent, rapid decline in sea-ice extent and a subsequent increase in human-polar bear interactions, bear attacks have increased in frequency and will likely continue to rise.
How to avoid polar bears?
Avoid areas of restricted visibility.
Low cloud and steep terrain can allow you to approach a polar bear without you or the bear realising. A surprised bear is usually an unhappy bear - and you probably won’t be too pleased about it either. Avoid travelling in poor visibility and plan your route to minimise moraine fields. Avoid tight corners of buildings too - if you must approach, give obstacles a wide berth.
Minimise time spent by the beach (you won’t tan anyway)
Polar bears hunt at the interface of land, water and ice. As such, they’re more commonly found around beaches. Camping on beaches should particularly be avoided.
“Bear canisters” reduce but do not eliminate the risk of attracting bears with food odours.
Seal your food when camping
Bears spend most of their waking hours searching for food and have an excellent sense of smell, which works on the scale of several kilometers. If they smell food in your camp or your rucksack, they’ll come after it! Special containers such as ‘bear canisters’ are available to buy. Food/canisters should be hung 50m from any camping area.
Always have a spotter
Dedicate a member of your team to watching for bears and equip them with binoculars. This team member should avoid being distracted and should feel confident to stop the group periodically to scan the landscape (you can’t walk and use binoculars safely).
Work in large groups
A 2017 study found that nearly all polar bear attacks recorded between 1870-2014 involved 2 people or less. It is wise to work in larger/more intimidating sized groups where possible, but make sure team members stay grouped close together. If you need a wee while out on fieldwork, don’t venture far from the group and definitely don’t go out of sight.
How to deal with an encounter?
Leave the area
This is by far the best tactic. Remember, polar bears are protected by Svalbard law and should only be interfered with in extreme circumstances! Hefty fines are given to those who don’t adhere to the rules. All other things equal, move to an area of higher, more open ground or, if possible, get inside a building. In Ny-Ålesund almost all outer doors for buildings are left unlocked for this exact reason. But remember - never turn your back on a polar bear and remain vigilant.
Tell others
There are possibly other groups in the area who don’t know about the bear. Use your radio or satellite phone to warn other teams and bases - consider marking your position on your GPS too. Once you are safe, let your base leader know!
Use your flare gun at close range
Polar bears are not known to run long distances, so will only break into a run when they’re at close range. If you feel your safety is immediately at risk, you can scare the bear by using a flare gun. Remember that if you fire your flare gun and it explodes behind the bear, it might flee towards you - this is bad.
Always consider what lies behind the bear and ensure your team is safely behind you. Typically, flares can be deployed if the polar bear is still showing interest in you and your team at about 50m (but you need to judge the situation and your own comfort level yourself). Before leaving base, your entire team should know who in the group is carrying a flare gun.
Be big and loud
If you do not have a firearm and the bear is deliberately moving towards you, undo your jacket to make yourself seem bigger and scare it with shouting.
If the bear is charging, shoot at close range
At close range (~25m), you may be able to hit the bear with your rifle. This should be done in the neck directly behind the head as it comes towards you. You are aiming for the spinal column. If you hit it and it falls down, shoot again as bullets are known to non-lethally strike the spine and skull at low angles. If you engage a bear with a firearm you must inform the Svalbard governor's office immediately.
Other Safety Points
Robbie half-loading a rifle at the edge of the Ny-Ålesund safe zone. Photo: Aurelia Reichardt (BAS)
Half loading your rifle
Carrying a fully loaded rifle is extremely dangerous. The ‘safety catch’ is often not used by convention and fully loaded rifles are liable to fire at any time. They are therefore carried ‘half loaded’ during normal scientific operation - this involves fully inserting the bolt into the empty chamber. The gun should only be cocked if there is an immediate risk of polar bear attack.
Shooting to Kill
Bears should only be shot at when they are a direct threat to you, and as such should be mostly shot at head-on. In this position, the rifle should be aimed just above the head, allowing for a vertical margin of error. If in the side-on position (in the case where a bear is attacking another person), they should be shot in the body to the rear of the shoulder of the front leg. This maximises the chance of a fatal injury to the bear’s internal organs. Ideally you want to hit the heart, as a bear has been known to still charge with a lung injury.
Extra Risk Factors
There are some risk factors that make bears more dangerous than usual.
Hungry Bears
Bears are particularly lean and hungry at the end of summer and therefore pose the most risk to humans in an encounter. They are also often forced onto land and near populated areas in this period due to seasonal sea ice retreat.
Sleepy Bears
Bears woken from sleep are anecdotally dangerous. You can minimise the chance of waking a sleeping bear by staying in open terrain with high visibility.
Mother Bears
Bears are significantly more aggressive when defending cubs. When encountering a bear, consider the potential presence of another (even more dangerous) bear and be wary of developing tunnel vision.
Further Reading
The INTERACT fieldwork planning handbook is an excellent first reference for safety protocols in polar bear country.
The University of Copenhagen also has a Safety Manual for Arctic Fieldwork with a more comprehensive appendix on polar bear safety.
The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) firearms policy has good advice on rifle safety including transport and half-loading protocols.
Polar Bear Attacks on Humans: Implications of a Changing Climate.Wildlife Society Bulletin, 41(3), pp.537-547. Wilder, J.M., Vongraven, D., Atwood, T., Hansen, B., Jessen, A., Kochnev, A., York, G., Vallender, R., Hedman, D. and Gibbons, M., 2017. Polar bear attacks on humans: Implications of a changing climate.
Sophie Watson
Sophie Watson is a PhD student at Cardiff University School of Biosciences.
Her project investigates how the gut microbiota of polar bears and wolverines are influenced by changing climatic and anthropogenic stressors, including changes in land use, parasite diversity/load and contaminant accumulation.
Sophie tweets @watsonse1
Robbie Mallett
Robbie Mallett is a PhD student at the Center for Polar Observation and Modelling at University College London.
His work concerns the distribution and impact of snow on Arctic sea ice, particularly with respect to measurements of sea ice thickness from space
Robbie tweets @robbiemallett