Bjørnøya, Barents Sea
A few islands can be so mystical and splendid as Bear Island! Imbedded by fog, high, steep cliffs, and the sound from 10,000’s breeding sea birds.
This morning the ship Endeavour slowly pulled into the south western most bay, Sørhamna, and the officers only saw the island on the radar screen. Any landing was out of question. This summer the island has hosted a few polar bears and combined with the fog, this makes a landing very risky.
The name Bjørnøya (Bear Island) goes back to Wilhelm Barents who landed here in June 1595 and killed a polar bear. The English found the island a few years later and named it Cheery Island, after Sir Cheery one of the financiers of the Hudson expedition. The Norwegians usually refer to it as Fog Island. Good places have many names!
Our aim for the morning became a Zodiac cruise and this is an adventure in itself. The Zodiac fleet was equipped with extra radios and navigation tools and set off into the fog to explore these rich waters.
The water below the cliff faces was filled with different sea birds: common & thick-billed murres, Atlantic puffin, fulmar, black-legged kittiwake, and great skua...
In fact Bear island is located at a perfect junction: the north going Gulf Stream meeting a ice cold Arctic stream from the east, ideal for the creation of interesting weather but also extreme bio-production. The Barent Sea is shallow, combined with the cold Arctic water that is rich with oxygen, both currents bring nutrition. The 24 hours daylight, from April 30 to about August 13 makes the life more or less explode during this short period! On the other hand from November 7 to February 4 the island is imbedded in the polar night: darkness and the Artic ice.
In the Zodiacs we not only experienced the rich bird life, but also the Pearly gate, a 100 meter long tunnel carved out by the waves slowly eroding the bed rock. The guests went through arches and between pinnacles rising sometimes over 80 meters high right out of the ocean. In the photo you see the most famous, “The Needle,” on the south western side.
As we started the Zodiac cruise in fog it was hard to expect blue skies, but as we came to the Southwest tip of Bjørnøya the island showed us just how fast conditions can change. Suddenly we saw the 400 meter high cliffs rising out of the sea and the ledges carpeted by breeding birds. The sea; around Bear Island is one of the richest in the world and as we set out to explore, the galley crew went out to fish. They returned from their expediton with 350 kg fresh cod! Something we look forward to seeing on the menu! Coming back from the Zodiac cruise, the guests of Endeavour were abuzz with what they saw, amazed that such a small island holds some of the most fantastic natural history in the world!
A few islands can be so mystical and splendid as Bear Island! Imbedded by fog, high, steep cliffs, and the sound from 10,000’s breeding sea birds.
This morning the ship Endeavour slowly pulled into the south western most bay, Sørhamna, and the officers only saw the island on the radar screen. Any landing was out of question. This summer the island has hosted a few polar bears and combined with the fog, this makes a landing very risky.
The name Bjørnøya (Bear Island) goes back to Wilhelm Barents who landed here in June 1595 and killed a polar bear. The English found the island a few years later and named it Cheery Island, after Sir Cheery one of the financiers of the Hudson expedition. The Norwegians usually refer to it as Fog Island. Good places have many names!
Our aim for the morning became a Zodiac cruise and this is an adventure in itself. The Zodiac fleet was equipped with extra radios and navigation tools and set off into the fog to explore these rich waters.
The water below the cliff faces was filled with different sea birds: common & thick-billed murres, Atlantic puffin, fulmar, black-legged kittiwake, and great skua...
In fact Bear island is located at a perfect junction: the north going Gulf Stream meeting a ice cold Arctic stream from the east, ideal for the creation of interesting weather but also extreme bio-production. The Barent Sea is shallow, combined with the cold Arctic water that is rich with oxygen, both currents bring nutrition. The 24 hours daylight, from April 30 to about August 13 makes the life more or less explode during this short period! On the other hand from November 7 to February 4 the island is imbedded in the polar night: darkness and the Artic ice.
In the Zodiacs we not only experienced the rich bird life, but also the Pearly gate, a 100 meter long tunnel carved out by the waves slowly eroding the bed rock. The guests went through arches and between pinnacles rising sometimes over 80 meters high right out of the ocean. In the photo you see the most famous, “The Needle,” on the south western side.
As we started the Zodiac cruise in fog it was hard to expect blue skies, but as we came to the Southwest tip of Bjørnøya the island showed us just how fast conditions can change. Suddenly we saw the 400 meter high cliffs rising out of the sea and the ledges carpeted by breeding birds. The sea; around Bear Island is one of the richest in the world and as we set out to explore, the galley crew went out to fish. They returned from their expediton with 350 kg fresh cod! Something we look forward to seeing on the menu! Coming back from the Zodiac cruise, the guests of Endeavour were abuzz with what they saw, amazed that such a small island holds some of the most fantastic natural history in the world!
