Mere days after a polar bear was shot and killed in the West Fjörds, the Icelandic Coast Guard has begun surveying the area for more bears.
Polar bears are not actually a common enough occurrence in Iceland to warrant regular patrols of the coastline in search of them. Be that as it may, RÚV reports that the Icelandic Coast Guard has announced that “great public pressure” to conduct such a surveillance has led them to the conclusion to deploy a helicopter – at an undisclosed cost – to fly over the Hornstrandir area in search of them.
On board the helicopter was Jón Björnsson, who is responsible for the Hornstrandir coast line, and an employee of the Environment Agency of Iceland. The two are reputed to know every inlet and cove throughout the area. After a prolonged search, they reported that no polar bears, nor any signs of them, had been found.
How regularly these patrols are to be conducted, over how great an area, and what sort of budget will be required for the operation has not as yet been announced.
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