Most northerly bear species
- Who
- Polar bear, Ursus maritimus
- What
- 89°46.5' N degree(s) decimal minutes
- Where
- Not Applicable (N/A)
- When
- 05 August 2001
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) live on the sea-ice of the circumpolar Arctic, typically between 65–85°N in latitude, with their range crossing the territory of five countries: Canada, Greenland (Denmark), Norway, Russia and the USA. During a cruise from Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, to Franz Josef Land, Russia – via the geographic North Pole – an adult polar bear was spotted at 89°46.5' N on 5 August 2001. Its position was approximately 24 kilometres (13 nautical miles) from the North Pole – the northernmost sighting ever recorded for a polar bear, or indeed any species of bear.
The lone polar bear was seen from the Russian icebreaker Yamal.
The sighting was reported by polar naturalist Rinie van Meurs (Netherlands) and polar geologist John Splettstoesser (USA) and appears in the journal ARCTIC in January 2003.