© Governor Svalbard
A tourist in Svalbard, Norway has been fined 1,000 euros for getting too close to a walrus. Approaching these animals is not permitted because human presence disturbs them.
The emergency services were informed by other tourists when they saw a man going onto an ice floe to approach a walrus in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard (Svalbard). Because such a thing is not legally permitted, the man was fined 1,000 euros.
The law stipulates that all traffic – including on foot – on the archipelago must follow clear rules to avoid disturbing the animals that live there. Polar bears, seals, reindeer, arctic foxes and walruses live there. The government therefore asks everyone to stay away from walruses, because disturbing them in their natural habitat can pose a danger to people.
Take a picture
“It happened very close to Longyearbyen, at the bottom of the fjord,” prosecutor Magnus Rindal Fredriksen told the BBC. According to him, it is a tourist with Polish nationality who had only arrived in the region that day. He was immediately taken to the governor’s office and paid the fine. “He went onto the ice floe hoping to get a good photo,” Rindal said.
Walruses have been protected in Svalbard since 1952, after intensive commercial exploitation revealed that only a few hundred remained alive. Because the Norwegian archipelagos have particularly beautiful nature and the midnight sun (the sun doesn’t set there at night, ed.) are particularly popular with tourists, strict rules are necessary.
