Svalbard polar bear woken by foghorn brings $5,255 fine

A person in Norway's Svalbard archipelago has been fined 50,000 kroner, or $5,255, for using a ship's foghorn to wake a sleeping polar bear, local officials said Thursday.

The incident happened earlier this month while a vessel was sailing in a fjord in northeastern Svalbard, about 1,000 kilometres from the North Pole, the territory's governor said.

The governor said people on the vessel spotted a polar bear sleeping on land before someone on board used the foghorn. The bear woke and moved to another location.

The person, whose identity and nationality were not disclosed, agreed to pay the fine.

Local regulations forbid needlessly disturbing, attracting or pursuing a polar bear. The species has been protected in Svalbard since 1972. The last scientific estimate, carried out in 2015, counted about 260 polar bears in the archipelago.