Katarzyna Kudłacz was getting ready a breakfast of scrambled eggs at a analysis station on Svalbard when she regarded as much as see she had three sudden company.
Shocked and in awe, the meteorologist instantly alerted her colleagues to the feminine polar bear and her two cubs peering into the Polish analysis station in Hornsund, within the south of the Norwegian archipelago, their noses pressed up in opposition to the window.
Her pictures of the shut encounter present one of many bears with their paw on the window, board video games within the foreground.
“That day I used to be on responsibility, the so-called station responsibility, when one individual is in command of the station, maintaining a tally of the satellite tv for pc radio, cooking or cleansing,” mentioned Kudłacz, who has been based mostly on the station since June.
“Whereas getting ready breakfast, I noticed from the kitchen our majestic company trying with curiosity on the home windows.”
The household regarded wholesome, she mentioned, and “solely checked out our home windows with curiosity”, however the staff determined to fireside a flare gun to frighten the bears away.
“It was a beautiful expertise, however we should do not forget that they’re wild animals and for them and for us it’s higher to maintain our distance. They weren’t aggressive. Nevertheless we most well-liked, by making noise and firing a sign gun, to scare them away.”
Daniel Kępski, the chief of the forty sixth Polish polar expedition, mentioned they typically noticed polar bears, however the animals hardly ever stopped to look contained in the analysis station. “It was wonderful to see them so shut throughout that day, however after all it was additionally a bit irritating.”
This 12 months 12 months the staff had seen extra polar bears than typical, he added. Normally there have been round 20 bear sightings a 12 months, however this 12 months there had been near 40 sightings since June they usually anticipated to see extra of their remaining three months.
“Thus far, we have now not noticed any clearly emaciated people. This 12 months might be a very good 12 months for Svalbard’s polar bears as a result of there’s plenty of sea ice right here in comparison with latest years,” he mentioned.