Person Fined $5,000 for Using Foghorn to Wake Sleeping Polar Bear

A person in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago has been fined about $5,300 for intentionally using a ship’s foghorn to wake a sleeping polar bear.

The incident happened earlier this month aboard a vessel traveling through a fjord in northern Svalbard, an Arctic island group located roughly halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole.

According to the Governor of Svalbard, someone aboard the vessel spotted a polar bear sleeping on land and sounded the ship’s booming foghorn. The noise woke the animal, which then moved to another location.

Authorities issued a fine of 50,000 Norwegian kroner, or about $5,300, after determining the action was intentional and disturbed the protected animal. The person agreed to pay the penalty.

Svalbard's environmental protection laws prohibit people from unnecessarily disturbing, luring or pursuing polar bears. The animals have been protected under international law since 1973.

Regulations also require people to maintain a distance of at least 300 meters from polar bears between July and February. That distance increases to 500 meters during the March-through-June mating season.

Experts say disturbing polar bears during the summer can have serious consequences because the animals have fewer opportunities to find their primary food source, fat-rich seals.

Geoff York, vice president of research and policy at Polar Bears International, said polar bears in good physical condition may spend much of the ice-free summer resting and conserving energy.

He said disturbing them can force the animals to burn calories unnecessarily and could be particularly concerning for pregnant or nursing females.

Authorities have issued fines for other wildlife disturbances in Svalbard. In 2024, a tourist was fined about $1,300 for attempting to approach a walrus.

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