Two men returning to their anchored boat at Fredheim on Friday evening got a not-exactly-warm welcome from an uninvited guest as a polar bear climbed aboard and destroyed “significant valuables,” in addition to “slaughtering” the inflatable boat they used to reach shore to go on a hike.
Jon Kristian Bø (who took the above photo) and Dag Nilsen saw distinctive claw and teeth marks on the raft upon their return, causing the men to immediately scan the landscape for bears before turning their attention to the water, according to Svalbardposten (article in Norwegian – no subscription required). That’s when they saw the bear rummaging on the motor boat about 30 meters away.
“It was a strange feeling to see the polar bear sitting in the boat,” Nilsen told the newspaper. “It was both beautiful and scary at the same time.”