3 hours ago
High above the icy expanse of Norway's Svalbard archipelago, a helicopter hovers, a tranquilliser dart is fired, and a polar bear collapses into the snow — not as a trophy, but as a test subject. In a groundbreaking mission, scientists are collecting fat biopsies from these apex predators to study how persistent industrial pollutants, like PFAS chemicals, are silently infiltrating the Arctic food chain.
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Norwegian veterinarian Rolf Arne Olberg shoots a polar bear with his air-compressed riffle to sedate it, from a helicopter flying over sea-ice in eastern Spitzbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago. (AFP)
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Norwegian veterinarian Rolf Arne Olberg checks a sedated polar bear in eastern Spitzbergen. As part of a five-week expedition, scientists collected fat and blood samples to study the impact of pollutants on polar bear health. (AFP)
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The icebreaker research vessel Kronprins Haakon sails through the sea ice, in eastern Spitzbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago. (AFP)
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The head of the Polar Bear Program, Jon Aars (R) from Norway, Marie-Anne Blanchet (2nd R) from France, and Norwegian veterinarian Rolf Arne Olberg (L) measure a big male polar bear in eastern Spitzbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago. (AFP)
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French spatial scientist Marie-Anne Blanchet examines bear cubs before taking adipose tissue biopsies and blood samples from their sedated mother, in eastern Spitzbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago. (AFP)
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A sedated female polar bear lies beside her two cubs in eastern Spitzbergen. She is marked with temporary ink to avoid repeated sedation during the research campaign. (AFP)
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Belgian toxicologist Laura Pirard analyzes polar bear fat biopsies in a lab aboard the research icebreaker Kronprins Haakon while sailing off eastern Spitzbergen. (AFP)
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Two polar bear fat biopsies are shown in a lab aboard the research icebreaker Kronprins Haakon, before being sliced for analysis. The samples were collected during a five-week Arctic expedition to study the effects of pollution on polar bear health. (AFP)
