An illusion of safety

I´ve frequently thought (since we came here) that this is a rather unsafe place to be. Quite recently it was down to 1 degree celsius, and it was actually snowing (though most of it thawed at once). So, I suppose, if I went for a walk a couple of kilometers away from Longyearbyen, fell and broke a leg and no one knew where I was, I might actually freeze to death. And this is during summer-time - in winter it goes down to 30.

Or let´s say I was in an inflatable boat (like a Zodiac), and an angry male walrus came along, and waved his big pointy teeth about, he might punch a hole in the boat so that I sank into freezing cold water and died. It has been known to happen (at least the hole-in-the-boat bit), and the walrus population is growing.

Or, if I get bitten by (very unlikely), or touch grass that´s been in touch with the droppings from a polar fox (more likely), infected with the parasite Echinococcus multilocularis (say that quickly 3 times!), I might get infected in turn. Then, in 15-20 years, I might die from liver failure. I´m not exaggerating, check here.

What else? Oh yes, polar bears. World´s largest carnivore. Unpredictable, and all over the place.

But we all know that living is quite dangerous, and living in the polar areas require special precautions - so why mention it now? The reason is that I´ve been to a very informative safety course, arranged by UNIS.

First we were told a lot of scary facts about Svalbard, about glaciers and walruses and stuff, and then we did a bit of shooting - and I am, as I suspected, no Annie Oakley. The rifle (a Ruger M77), scared me not a little bit - I mean, a rifle is a lot more dangerous than a polar bear, and yet they let me handle it! But in a given situation I might have to handle it, so the more I know the better, I suppose.

It was a tiny bit fun too, to shoot.

The 3 photos underneath from the shooting range are not very good, I was with a big group (of teachers from Longyearbyen skole) and didn´t have much time for taking pictures. William and I will probably go back and practice sometime soon, so hopefully more photos then.


Yes, the white patch there is fresh snow. It was freezing.




But wait, I´ve forgot to mention another danger. The terns are pretty vicious at the moment, attacking at the slightest provocation (like when a human being is strolling by). This blurry picture is one of them going at me yesterday, as I was walking innocently on the road near the fjord.


But at least they´re not deadly. I think.


And luckily, there are these signs to stop the bear from entering Longyearbyen. That gives the most soothing illusion of safety.