Introduction to Polar Safety
Our group assembled this morning down at the University and we were met by Truls Kuhle, our safety instructor for the day. Truls first gave us an overview of the many hazards that one can encounter doing field work on Svalbard. Among the topics he covered were how to safely walk on glaciers and how to work safely on boats. And of course, how to deal with Polar Bears.
Truls teaches us about Polar bears, gun safety and use
Rifle Training
Svalbard is certainly Polar Bear territory. The bears mainly prefer to stay out on the floating sea ice where their food source (mainly seals) is plentiful. But in summer months there is a lot less sea ice, so the bears are forced to come on land to forage for food. Because the amount of sea ice is diminishing due to global warming, this means that bears are becoming more vulnerable.
Polar bears can be very aggressive, although the bears don't usually attack people – many bears prefer to stay away from humans as they have learned that encounters with humans don't usually end well (or with a satisfying meal...). I've been told that older (and more desperate) bears as well as overconfident adolescents are most likely to be aggressive. Also males tend to be more aggressive than females. At any rate, if one encounters a polar bear, you have no idea how old the bear is, so the general rule is to avoid a confrontation as much as possible. The first rule is to make noise and move away from the bear calmly and quickly. If the bear decides to approach, then you look for signs of aggression. If it seems like the bear is aggressive, then you try to scare it away using a flare gun – Truls demonstrated the use of a flare pistol. It basically shoots out a loud explosive charge with a flare that will hopefully scare the bear away. If that doesn't work, then as a last resort you will need to shoot the bear. The Norwegian government has very strict rules about shooting Polar bears. After every bear shooting, there is an investigation, and if it's not completely clear that the bear was shot in self-defense, then the shooter is slapped with a hefty fine.
Truls showing us where to shoot a bear
Nonetheless, everyone who goes out in the field needs to be trained in the proper use of rifles. So Truls took us out to a shooting range to learn how to shoot safely. After an introduction to gun safety and using these particular rifles he taught us how to load and shoot the rifles. (For any gun enthusiasts out there, we were using Ruger M77's). We first tried shooting lying down, then on one knee, and then standing. While it is much much easier to shoot lying down, this is not a position you would be likely to get into when confronted with a polar bear. I found it easier to control the gun than I expected, even when standing up, although the noise of a rifle blast is quite jarring. Although I had one disconcerting moment when the recoil from the rifle knocked my ear protection clear off my head, landing about 10 feet away!
Liz, Darren, Julie, Rebecca and Rachel posing with rifles
Practicing my shot
Ross and Julie set up a little contest – the best shooter in the group earned a large candy bar. Rachel was the big winner today. I was certainly not the best shooter although all my shots at least landed on the target. Julie said she was pleased that all of us seemed to do well enough to be able to shoot an attacking bear...
Rachel, our master sharpshooter, loading her rifle
George practices his aim
Daksha shows pride in her target
I actually hit the target!
A polar bear encounter is an extremely unlikely event. So today may be the very last time I ever shoot a gun. I have no experience shooting, and no interest whatsoever in guns or hunting or what have you (I had only shot a gun once before in my life – when I was 15 during a summer trip to Israel when we spent a few days on an Army base). Yet I'm glad I have had the experience, as an adult, to know what it's like to shoot a gun. It's a strangely thrilling and terrifying experience to know that you are handling such a deadly and powerful instrument.
Rebecca shows off her aim
The entire REU group after a successful morning of target practice
Swimming in the Arctic 1
After another excellent sandwich and coffee at a local restaurant, we rejoined Truls for training on use of survival suits. These suits are designed to keep you warm, dry and floating in the case of an emergency on the boats. Because the suits are quite bulky and hard to maneuver around in, it was important to try them on, and to jump into the water wearing the suits.
Daksha struggles with her survival suit
Rachel and Liz with their survival suits on
Darren in his survival suit
Julie and me in our survival suits
After suiting up, we drove down to a little marina where we jumped into the water. Oh, by the way, the water is a balmy 4ºC (39ºF). Everyone was a bit reluctant to jump in, so I had to volunteer to go first! I immediately realized that my dry suit wasn't so dry... it had some leakage around the zipper. So I got pretty wet. But I didn't feel cold as suit really insulates quite well.
Me jumping into the Arctic Ocean!
George tries to maneuver in the water
After everyone dove in, we practiced hooking ourselves together (there are little clips on the suit that allow you to do this) and then trying to swim as a group over to the dock. This procedure is important – in the event of a group ending in the water in an emergency, we would need to stick together and move as a group. As if that wasn't enough of a challenge, then getting out of the water onto the dock is tough to do wearing the survival suits.
We had some extra time at the end, so a bunch of us went back into the water for a little extra swim time!
Ross swims over to the group assembled in the water
What a day for a swim!!
The REU group poses with Truls after a successful day of survival training
Question of the day:
Today's question: Why is there 24 hours of daylight here in Svalbard? So it turns out that Monday's and Tuesday's questions are very related to today's. So tomorrow I'll answer all three at once...
If you have an answer (even just a guess) to any of these questions, go ahead and post your answer on the "Ask the Team" section of this website.
Longyearbyen at 11 pm