0
0
Taking a tour of the famous local ice cave while sitting on the toilet? That’s too cool for even us to ridicule.
Summer is the worst time to visit Longyearbyen’s ice caves in real life due to all the meltwater rivers carving out new channels, but those looking to virtually get their feet wet can now explore Longyearbreen ice cave with a 3D tour made by Evzen Janousek, with assistance from Aleksey Marchenko and Nataly Marchenko, as an Arctic Technology project for The University Centre in Svalbard…
It’s no surprise to see yet another photo of a polar bear in Svalbard win a contest, but we gotta say we are not impressed by what maybe the most elitist newspaper in the UK felt was foremost. This ass-end picture of a not-so-close, not-so-motherly, not-so-fierce, not-so-starving, not-so-cannabalistic bear leaving tracks in the snow earned Harry Skeggs (whoever he is) a £250 voucher in a weekly contest by The Sunday Times of London. The newspaper declared it a “poignant picture” of a “path less trodden.” Our favorite among several runners-up was a young woman carrying what looked like enough provisions to feed the bear for weeks on her tiny delivery motorbike…
Since we’re kinda dissing the now-arriving cruise ship tourists by reminding them of the things definitely not to do if they don’t want to be despised, we figure it’s only fair to point out this week’s bit of local lunacy as seen on social media. It seems shoppers at Svalbardbuttiken are having trouble getting past the cars parked so tightly together next to the entrance that neither bag-laden consumers or carts may pass. And speaking of parking, we’ve been posting warnings about snowmobiles in watery whereabouts for weeks. One finally took a plunge into a river this week along Vei 505. Yeah, there’s multiple ways the phrase “polar dip” applies here.
Hi, I am Harry Skeggs (whoever he his), the photographer who took the photo you mention above. Whilst I agree that these polar regions are overrun by incomsiderate tourists, I am in fact a professional wildlife photographer and this picture is actually intended to depict the struggle of the polar bear against changing climate etc, caused in part by mass tourism and its carbon emissions. It has been used by a number of charities to this effect. Therefore appreciate your criticism of the photo but not of its intention.
Thanks
Glad to hear charities are using the photo but, as noted, photos depicting the struggle of climate change are published frequently (yes, often as the winner of some contest). We just published one at the link below (you’ll need to scroll to the last photo) of a bear that may have starved to death, although experts have cast doubt on such claims with some such photos (attributing the death of the animals to old age, illness, injury, etc.). I’m guessing more people would want your photo on their living room wall, but the one below obviously has more shock value.
tinyurl.com/gt5g9hv
Photography can be used for two ways to benefit wildlife as far as I can see. One to shock people into action as you say, the other to inspire people to care. This is much the same attitude as pioneers such as David Attenborough take and I for one would rather spend more time celebrating nature and raising awareness through this avenue. Both avenues have merit though.