A boat operator used a foghorn to wake a sleeping polar bear. They were fined over $5,000.

A person on a boat in Norway's Arctic islands was fined more than $5,000 after using a foghorn to wake a polar bear that was sleeping on shore. The incident happened earlier this month near a fjord in northeastern Svalbard, a group of islands about 620 miles from the North Pole. Officials say the person broke local rules that protect polar bears from being disturbed. The governor's office ordered the fine, and the person agreed to pay it.

The governor of Svalbard released a statement explaining what happened. People on the vessel spotted a polar bear resting on land. Someone on board then blasted the ship's foghorn, startling the bear and causing it to move to a different spot. Under local law, it is forbidden to 'needlessly disturb, attract, or pursue a polar bear.' The polar bear has been a protected species in Svalbard since 1972, and breaking that rule comes with a serious penalty.

The fine totaled $5,255. Officials did not share the name or country of the person who was fined. The last scientific count of polar bears in the archipelago was done in 2015, and it found around 260 bears living there. Svalbard is one of the few places in the world where people can see polar bears in the wild, which is part of why the rules protecting them are so strict.

Even though polar bears are protected, scientists have worried about their future because of climate change. Melting sea ice has been shrinking the areas where polar bears hunt for seals. Bears use floating ice as a platform to reach their prey, so less ice can mean less food. For years, many researchers feared the bears could soon be in serious trouble.

However, a recent study brought some good news. Scientist Jon Aars and his team at the Norwegian Polar Institute tracked nearly 800 polar bears in Svalbard from 1992 to 2019. They found that the bears were healthy, able to have cubs, and even gaining weight. Aars told CBS News he was surprised by the results, given how much sea ice has disappeared.

The research suggests that polar bears may be finding ways to adapt to their changing environment. As ice shrinks, prey like seals becomes packed into smaller areas, which may actually make them easier to catch. Scientists say more study is needed to understand how long this trend will last. For now, the bears of Svalbard appear to be holding on — but their habitat still needs protection.