Meteorologists Free After Being Trapped by Polar Bears

Supply ship arrives with flares to scare them off
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 13, 2016 4:14 PM CDT
Updated Sep 14, 2016 10:01 AM CDT
Polar Bears Swarm Weather Station, Trap Meteorologists
Polar bears look up at their enclosure in Prague's Zoo, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016.   (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Five Russian meteorologists trapped inside their Arctic weather station by a group of polar bears are free, at least for now. A relief ship reached their island with supplies and scared off the bears with flares, reports the Guardian. The ship also left behind flares and dogs to help keep the visitors at bay, though the bears had killed one dog previously. The bears "swarmed" the station almost two weeks ago, and the meteorologists had been trapped inside since, NBC News reports. "The bears live in the Arctic, you know—we can't ban them from hanging around," said a station supervisor by phone. The station on one of the Izvestiy TSIK Islands is 2,800 miles from Moscow. If the bears come back, the scientists can at least count on another relief ship returning in a month. (More polar bears stories.)

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