[pct-l] OT: bears !!!

[scourtway at bpa-arch.com (Steve Courtway)]

well, polar bears.  wrong continent, and off topic, but with all the car and 
lesbian talk, I figured what the hey....



s.c.





OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Three unarmed Polish researchers stranded on a remote 
Arctic island were rescued by helicopters as polar bears were closing in on 
them, officials said Wednesday.

The hairsbreadth escape took place on an island in Norway's Svalbard 
archipelago, about 650 miles from the North Pole.

"It was the worst imaginable situation. They were cold and wet, had no 
equipment or weapons, and were surrounded by hungry polar bears," said Peter 
Braaten of the Svalbard governor's office.

The men were rescued by helicopter Tuesday after 15 hours shipwrecked at the 
edge of a tiny bay between two glaciers, he said.

The three were aboard the Polish research ship Horyzont when they set out in 
a small inflatable boat to pick up equipment on one of the islands.

"Their boat capsized, and they lost all their equipment and weapons," 
Braaten told The Associated Press. He said they swam and clambered over 
chunks of floating ice to get to the island of Egdeoya.

Braaten said the ship repeatedly tried to send in another small boat to pick 
them up, but conditions were too rough. The ship finally used a harpoon 
canon to fire a rope to land, so it could send the researchers food and 
water. Then it called for help.

"They managed to start a fire, to keep warm and keep the polar bears away," 
he said, explaining that the men used the spark plugs from their capsized 
craft's outboard motor to get the fire going. The island has some dried 
grass and scrubby plants.

"It was a bit like 'MacGyver,' " Braaten said, referring to the adventure 
television series featuring a character who relies on science and his wits 
to solve problems.

Braaten said a least three polar bears looking for a meal where within 
roughly 20 yards of the three men when the helicopter picked them up.

"That is dangerously close," he said.

Polar bears have no natural enemies in their frozen domain and regard all 
other living things, including humans, as potential meals.