Biologist Maria Huntsaar studies at Teravmäge University in northern Norway and works as a commander-in-arms on expeditions. The winter-loving woman is interested in life that can survive in such harsh conditions, but she has already noticed alarming signs of global warming.
Huntsaare’s job title is commander of the artillery of the National Geographic research vessel. “I work on the National Geographic tourist expedition ships. I’m basically responsible for the safety of the polar bears or the safety of people in the polar bear area,” Huntsaar explained.
When he gets off the ship, Huntsaar trades his binoculars for a gun and flares. “When we land, my job is to check that there are no polar bears and that we don’t encounter anyone. /…/ We have rifles and small flare guns, as is usually the case on ships. You can also hear whistles with us,” he said. said Huntsaar and added that with the latter one can scare bears with the help of noise.
In Teravmäge, where Huntsaar usually works, according to the rules it is not possible to shoot at a distance greater than 30 meters and a rifle is usually needed once or twice to cover the entire archipelago. “Actually, it’s not necessary very often. I’ve never had situations like that, but I used flares to scare the bear,” he told her.
The latter was necessary in a situation where a class of 24 members was having lunch and at one point noticed a mother bear with two cubs approaching. Since 8 people could fit on the boat, the study group began to walk away quietly, but when the bear came forward a rocket was fired. Afterwards, the mother bear sat down and began to nurse her cubs.
Polar bears are twice as large as the brown bears found in Estonia. “When it’s really hungry, sometimes it actually chases people. In fact, it doesn’t happen that often. They mostly still hunt seals on sea ice. It’s not that common for a polar bear to chase an animal on land,” Hunt explained Island.
One of the first things Huntsaar learned in college was how to handle a gun at a shooting range and understand bear behavior. “In the case of polar bears, you should check whether the bear has already seen you or not. Often, if the bear is sleeping somewhere, there is no point in starting to make noise. Then you should just leave,” Huntsaar said.
“If it comes towards you, make yourself as big as possible. If you are in a group, gather people together so that this mass is as big as possible and then make noise. Mostly it scares,” Huntsaar said and added that if one person attacks alone and without preparation: if you fall into the claws of a polar bear, there is really no escape.
While working in the north, Huntsaar also saw signs of global warming that scare him. “Teravmäed is one of the fastest warming regions in the world. About four times faster than the world average. /…/ There are two glaciers near the city. I compared the photos I took five years ago and this year and the difference is obvious,” Huntsaar explained.
Since sea ice only formed at the end of January this year, all the polar bears Huntsaar saw in Teravmäge this year were in relatively poor condition. “They were pretty hungry. It’s sad to see,” Huntsaar said.
2023-12-09 11:50:00
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