Bears

For the first time since Summit came into existence in 1989, a lost polar bear wandered up into camp last summer. This is all kinds of bad: polar bears are happy to eat a human meal; by the time one made it up to Summit, she was hundreds of miles from any other food source and 10,000+ ft above sea level, exhausted, hungry, and disoriented; everyone in camp had to be herded into The Big House or The Green House and stay hunkered down (for almost two days); and she wouldn't leave. The summer crew did everything they could to scare her away and encourage her to go, but all of the smells of camp and food were too enticing. Evacuating her back to the coast was considered but was logistically and financially prohibitive. So, very very sadly, they ended up having to fly in hunters to kill her.

I would LOVE to see a polar bear up close, but because of the likely outcome of seeing one up here, I can't say I hope to while I'm at Summit. And polar bear safety has become a big thing up here. As mentioned in a previous post, everyone now has to sleep in hard-sided structures rather than tents, and all of the berthing structures have now been moved very close to The Big House so that if a bear is spotted, everyone can be corralled as quickly and safely as possible into the elevated station. And there is also someone on station now whose job is to stay up all night and scan the entire horizon for bears every 15 minutes.

There are bear safety/deterrent supplies in every building now...

And everyone who comes to base has a safety/awareness orientation session.

So hopefully that's the last you hear from me about bears as long as I'm at Summit. But then hopefully when I have a chance to travel a little bit about coastal Greenland, I'll possibly, just maybe, have a sighting that is safe for bear and human alike?