Bear naps on fishing boat before falling into sea

A bear climbed aboard a moored tuna fishing boat via its gangway and appeared to have dozed off before falling overboard and disappearing into the sea in the northern city of Shiogama, Miyagi prefecture, said police yesterday.

Three crew members who were on the boat took refuge in a room and were unharmed, according to Kyodo news agency, quoting the police.

According to the police, a bear boarded the boat at the fishing port around 8.30pm.

It appeared to have fallen asleep on the bow and had not been seen since falling into the sea after 1am, the police quoted the crew as saying.

There had been reports of bear sightings in the area since Friday.

Elsewhere in Iwanuma, a train struck a bear late on Saturday, causing a temporary service suspension and delaying around 30 passengers on the Joban Line, said JR East.

None of the crew or passengers were injured.

The bear became trapped under the train and it took nearly two hours for service to resume as workers removed the animal's body, it said.