Why do people need to land to see the Bears?
As Polar Bears are known as one of the few animals that will actively hunt people, it does seem questionable to effectively tease the animal with a potential meal and then kill it for acting like a Polar Bear.
The passengers should not be allowed to land.
A
Very sad story.
I suspect the incident happened in Ny Alesund, a well established human settlement, which was there long before the cruise ships came. It is occupied throughout the year. Ny Alesund is a small collection of research huts where Scientists base themselves.
The Polar Bears are in the vicinity whether or not a cruise ship is there. Its not a case of there being a cruise ship in port and them being tempted, because there are people around all year.
Passengers are not allowed beyond the limits of the Ny Alesund which is ringed by armed staff from the cruise ships. In this case they are only impinging on Polar Bear territory as much as the people who are living and working there permanently. The settlement is so small it only covers a tiny fraction of the Spitsbergen area.
A few people go off on organised trips but the majority are happy to land on shore for a few hours, walk within the circle of the armed guards, and return to the ship.
It's only the second incident I'm aware of. Many years ago a passenger was killed by a Polar Bear at Ny Alesund, and after that they introduced the circle of armed staff.
We were made aware that few Polar Bears venture close to Ny Alesund, presumably because the vigilant locals have constantly scared them off. So going ashore there wasn't seen as an opportunity to see a Polar Bear.
As part of the cruise, ships sometimes do a trip around the coastline. They might then see a Polar Bear from a respectful distance, whereby they aren't impinging on Polar Bear territory[ the ships don't sail too close to the shore because of rocks and shallower waters].