Here's Thomas' report of the 20.04.02:

Today we returned after a 5 hours walk and 20 Km to Constable Pynt. The snow hardened overnight, the temperatures fell to -20°C and in the morning there was a slight wind and fog. On our way back we again met Ole. For those, who don't know, who he is: Ole is an enterprising Inuit. He speaks english and for this he is the first contact person for everybody, who needs something.
Beside this, he is also a succesful hunter for polar bears and I used the opportunity to ask him, whether it was right to shoot down the bear. He said, that it is impossible to anticipate the behaviour of a bear.
"Maybe he was only curious, but in the next moment, he can attack you without any warnings. And they are fast as lighning." He himself had been very lucky the last time he went hunting. The bear attacked his dogs and, although struggling with the dogs, he suddenly attacked him. He side stepped and reached to shoot him down.
The bear we shot was a young adult, 3-4 years old and approx. 250-300 kg weight. Ole attested us, that we've done the only reasonable thing. "If he doesn't leave, you have to shoot him. Anything else would be a great risk for men and dogs".
Because of this we are sending a picture of the dead polar bear - we wouldn't have done it without comment. No one of us is here to hunt bears, but if you are here, you are within his area. The best is, not to meet him, because the polar bear is the biggest and most dangerous animal on land.



Sometimes the feet looks like this


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