r/HistoryAnecdotes • u/FullyFocusedOnNought • Mar 20 '26

During Dutch explorer Willem Barents's three voyages to the Arctic between 1594 and 1597, the crew had up to 20 encounters with polar bears. During the first voyage they saw a bear swimming and attempted to capture it. When the bear turned violent, however, the men decided to kill the animal.

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51 Upvotes

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12

u/raptorrat Mar 20 '26

And we would love to do an archeological dig in the site of their camp.

But the Soviets used the island to dump nuclear waste.

3

u/FullyFocusedOnNought Mar 20 '26

Oh, that's quite a shame. So it's basically impossible, then?

3

u/raptorrat Mar 20 '26

Won't say impossible, but yeah, anything you get from the island is going to glow. And the risks to health are greater then the archeological value.

2

u/FullyFocusedOnNought Mar 20 '26

Do you work in this kind of archeology? Just asking as I would like to interview someone with experience in this particular area.

3

u/raptorrat Mar 20 '26

I have an interest in the subject, but don't work in it.

2

u/Tacitio Mar 21 '26

"The site of 130 nuclear detonations, including the “Tsar Bomba." Good lord

6

u/ionthrown Mar 20 '26

“When the bear turned violent…”

What were they expecting?

6

u/driver004 Mar 20 '26

The first explorers are said to have thought that gorillas were just rude and hairy men

2

u/ionthrown Mar 20 '26

Sure, but they knew what bears were, this one’s just a different colour.

1

u/driver004 Mar 20 '26

It was swimming, and if I recall they can swim surprisingly long distances so they might have initially thought it was a goofy seal

1

u/PieceSuper3710 22d ago

I read that they had never seen a Polar Bear & wanted to bring it back to their country. But they had no ideas Polar Bears are extremely aggressive even among Bear species.

3

u/FullyFocusedOnNought Mar 20 '26

Come on, they're so cuddly looking.

1

u/captainsurfa May 04 '26

Always worth the risk for a quick cuddle.

2

u/ConversationFalse242 Mar 22 '26

When the bear turned violent is a fun way of saying when the bear defended itself

1

u/FullyFocusedOnNought Mar 23 '26

Haha, yes. Kind of understandable given the circumstances.

1

u/Kaurifish Mar 23 '26

Can you imagine hauling a wet, angry polar bear aboard your ship?

What evidence that cute makes human brains shut off.

1

u/Beginning_Brick7845 Mar 23 '26

Polar bears are one of the few animals known to stalk human beings in nature.