Polar bear at Longyearbyen Camping, Svalbard, 2011-07-29

"Since at least summer 1985 (opening of the service building with a permanent attendant), to our knowledge not a single polar bear has been discovered on the ground of Longyearbyen Camping during the summer season."
-Longyearbyen Camping FAQ

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Longyearbyen
• Polar bear
• isbjörn
• eisbär
• camping
• campsite
• campingplatz
• Spitsbergen
• Spitzbergen
• Spetsbergen
• Svalbard

[eltfell]

I've been four times there in the summer (1994, 1995, 1999 and 2003). There were no polar bears at the camp site, but there were was no ice on the Isfjorden as well. Maybe the bear came with the unusual amount of ice drifting in to the fjord. Drift ice is the natural polar bear's restaurant due to the seals on the ice.

[MrNerdybird]

@eltfell Yeah, I assume the bear came with the drift ice. There fjord was open when I arrived, but a couple of days later it was full of ice (which is very rare in the summer)... The ports was blocked for a few days and many boats got stuck at sea... All of a sudden there were multiple sightings of polar bears in the areas around both Longyearbyen and Barentsburg, and by the end of the week, this one showed up at the camp site... It was quickly scared out to sea with a flare gun, moments later.

[tanzmausli]

Well, I worked at camping site when the polar bear was there. =) It was really amazing and my first polar bear at all =)