Safety course
"We're just guests in a polar bear's world..."
That's true, what the HSE Officer said. We need to keep it in our minds.
Safety course is mandatory for every one related to UNIS and it is required to renew it annualy. As the course took place in the Autumn Semester, we had to spend one day for that matter. From the early morning to late afternoon-safety lectures on procedures and equipment, local shooting range and sea survival training, respectively.
Field safety lecture by Jukka Pekka Ikonen.
Essential field gear.
(www.unis.no)
Next stop-something that we were all waiting for-local shooting range. Students were transported to a quite remote place away from Longyearbyen to learn "Rifle handling and Polar Bear Protection".
Mr. White as it is.
Rifle handling, procedures, abuses, polar bear scaring, shooting positions and more-such was a scope of the training. A rifle used at UNIS is Ruger cal. .30-06. Really impressive one.
Shooting theory first.
A bit of theory...
(www.unis.no)
Aiming points, apparently crucial.
"One thing is sure. If you kill a polar bear, there is an investigation."-and that's what you can be pretty sure, such matters are very serious in Norway.
"One shot doesn't kill. Shoot wisely, only four rounds are available." You're the only one person assessing the distance, accuracy and likelihood of interaction.
"If shot and has not killed a polar bear, follow him and kill him". The last thing we want is a wounded polar bear moping around the area. If so, sometimes helicopter with hunters is involved.
"Whenever you're ready, four shots to the target-FIRE!"
Let's check what we've got, shall we?
Safety first. Still loud, in spite of hearing protection.
Dora is undoubtedly well prepared for fieldwork :)
What if we meet a polar bear? A real situation might be more tricky than one can imagine. For that reason, the procedures have been introduced.
Gather up!
Try to scare a polar bear.
no response
Use a flare gun.
no response
Get ready to use a rifle. Make sure that no one is between you and a polar bear (and behind it).
Time for your assessment, draw your own imaginary line which a polar bear cannot cross.
...
Flare gun
"You always have to predict the influence of wind etc. on a flare (trajectory). At least try not to shoot behind a polar bear-it might make it run into your direction."
Shall I say anything more? :)
Thomas shooting with a flare gun.
Barrel after "a couple" of trainings :)
What is that? A bunker?
Passing that 'something', we got astonished, literally. "The Global Seed Vault"-I heard.
Deep inside a mountain on a remote island in the Svalbard archipelago, halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, lies the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It is a fail-safe, state-of-the-art seed storage facility, built to stand the test of time – and of natural or manmade disasters.
The purpose of the Vault is to store duplicates (‘back ups’) of all seed samples from the world’s crop collections. Permafrost and thick rock ensure that, even in the case of a power outage, the seed samples will remain frozen. The Vault can therefore be considered the ultimate insurance policy for the world’s food supply. It will secure, for centuries, millions of seeds representing every important crop variety available in the world today.
(Source: www.croptrust.org)
Read more:
Sea Survival
The last part of the safety course was The Sea Survival Training. We got that unforgetable opportunity to wear the survival suits and... jump into the freezing waters of Adventfjorden.
The mentioned survival suits are 'second-generation' ones after the petroleum industry, so after jumping into the water some of us realized that several suits were just leaking a bit. Nonetheless, every one managed to get back alive :)
Inside the UNIS Warehouse.
Buddies gathered and connected.
One more thing. I was walking around the UNIS and one rifle caught my eye. Yes, good old Mauser Krk98K 7,92x57mm. Abandoned by the Germans during the World War II, those rifles have been still in use. Later, I'm meeting the same model on the bridge of Stålbas.
Mauser Krk98K-in the middle.
Next part soon!
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