Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me Simon Calder. It's Monday the 16th of June.

That means it's peak season for expeditions to Svalbard, the archipelago in the far north of Norway, also known as Spitzbergen.

But this summer there are very different rules for staying away from polar bears.

Expedition ships must keep at least 500 metres away from the predators.

That actually will reduce on the 1st of July to just 300 metres. The limit was introduced at

the start of the year because, according to the Minister of Climate and Environment, Andreas Bieland Erickson,

Svalbard, is a place where climate change is happening faster than anywhere else on the planet.

And he says climate change is leading to more difficult conditions for polar bears.

It's important for them to be able to search for food, hunt, rest and take care of their cubs without interference from

humans. That's why we must keep a good distance. He adds that keeping a good distance will also

ensure that dangerous situations do not arise and that polar bears do not get used to humans over time.

One person who, I think it's fair to say, disagrees with the attitude of the Norwegian government,

is Paul Goldstein, who's the noted photographer and Arctic explorer and expedition leader.

Here's what he told me.

I don't agree with a single word of it.

It's absolute nonsense.

The world's greatest polar bear expert, Dr Ian Sterling,

died a couple of years ago.

I'm very sorry to say I worked with him many times.

He spent well over 50 years in often extremely close proximity from a vessel.

He told me he'd never once seen a tourist vessel interfere as these pilgrims are inferring.

It's complete nonsense. And the fact that on the 30th of June, once you go past midnight, this limit

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