Person fined over $5,000 for waking sleeping polar bear with ship’s horn
The incident occurred in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, where intentionally disturbing polar bears is prohibited.
A man used a snowmobile to outrun a charging polar bear outside a hotel in the Arctic town of Pyramiden in Norway’s archipelago of Svalbard on April 27.
A person was fined over $5,000 last week for using a ship’s horn to disturb a sleeping polar bear in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, officials reported.
The incident occurred earlier in August, when a vessel in Lomfjorden, a fjord along the western side of Hinlopenstretet, observed a sleeping polar bear on land, according to a statement from the Governor of Svalbard.
“A person on board used the ship's horn, causing the bear to wake up and move to another location,” the governor said in the release. “It was others on board the ship who notified the Governor of the incident.”
The person, who has not been identified, was issued a fine of 50,000 Norwegian kroner (about $5,350) for violating Section 30a of the Svalbard Environmental Act, which they accepted and paid. The Governor believed the action disturbed the polar bear and was done intentionally.
A polar bear is seen among rocks along the coast in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway, on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Section 30a of the Environmental Act outlines guidelines specific to polar bear safety, stating, “It is prohibited to unnecessarily disturb, lure or pursue polar bears.” People must stay at least 300 meters away from polar bears, but from March 1 to June 30, the required minimum increases to 500 meters.
“Any person who observes a polar bear closer than the distance requirement shall retreat, so as to maintain a lawful distance,” the section says. “Necessary measures shall be taken to avoid the danger of polar bear attacks and to ward off an attack without injuring or killing the animal.”
A sign warns of polar bears at the city limits of Longyearbyen on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard on Feb. 18, 2026. (Photo by Oriane Laromiguière / AFP via Getty Images)
Polar bears, the largest land-dwelling carnivore in the world, have been protected by international law since 1973, local tourism site Visit Svalbard noted. Hunting was also banned that year on Svalbard, which is located between the mainland and the North Pole.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates there are about 26,000 polar bears worldwide, according to Polar Bears International, an organization dedicated to protecting these mammals and their habitat. About 250 polar bears from the Barents Sea population were found on Svalbard.
In addition to human conflicts, other polar bear threats include climate change, disease, pollution, inadequate habitat protection and increased commercial activities.
While these threats remain prevalent, a study published in January in Scientific Reports found that adult polar bears in Svalbard maintained their body condition between 1995 and 2019, despite the area’s rapid loss of sea ice. The scientists note that while seemingly positive, these findings do not mean polar bears are protected from climate change, and continuous loss of sea ice will threaten their survival.
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