Bjørnøya, Barents Sea
Magical, magnificent, splendid... Yes, many words can be used about this mystical island, located in the Barent Sea almost half way between Nord Kapp, northern tip of mainland Norway and the southern tip of Svalbard, Sørkapp. The island was first sighted by a Dutch expedition in 1596, sent out with the aim to find a shortcut to the rich spice island in eastern Indonesia!
Why not? As planet earth is a globe this would maybe work and recently at this time, several navigators had made it. Of course Wilhelm Barents got caught in the ice as he made it further to the northeast, and this became one of the Holy Grails of Arctic History. The wintering place was not located until 1871 as a Norwegian seal catcher was sailing along the eastern side of Novaya Zemlja, the islands which separate the Barents and Kara Sea.
As we approached the island by midnight, and here a coldwater current merges into the warm Gulf Stream, the southern part of the island was covered by a thin layer of fog. As the captain and his officers brought the ship into a shallow bay, Sørhamna, an interesting phenomenon occurred as the radar screen did not show the actual shore line! There were just too many birds flying in or out from the cliff face!
Our expedition leader Bud did make an early wake-up call and all Zodiacs were in the water waiting to take us for a remarkable cruise. The southern part of the island is more or less 200 - 400 meter steep cliffs dropping right into the ocean, sedimentary bedrock and ideal for breeding sea birds. The last count estimated the seabird numbers at about 1,000,000 breeding pairs!
Of course being so far north, latitude 74° 22'N, 019°09'E, the species diversity is not high but the sheer numbers here make up for everything. The cliff faces were cluttered with kittiwakes, common and thick-billed murres. Predators like glaucous gulls together with great skuas were having a feast on eggs, chicks and even adult birds. Off the beach line the water was covered by murres waiting to fly out for a long feeding turn or ready to fly up to make a change and incubate the egg.
So what makes it possible for all these birds to maintain a huge reproduction? The base for this extreme food chain are several: 24 hours of daylight from about early May to early September; nutrient rich water; and also cold, as the cold water can dissolve more oxygen. The birds and also the whales we encountered yesterday mainly prey on the small fish capelin.
After this magnificent Zodiac cruise full of adventures, with remarkable bird life and interesting caves, tunnel, arches, and stacks, every one was ready for a breakfast. Soon next on the program was more Zodiac cruising but also a landing at Kvalrossbukta, for the keen hikers to explore the cliffs from the top. Place names do tell us about previous history, and this beach used to be an important haul out for walrus, but by 1610 the Dutch and English whalers were up here to hunt the animals. Reports about several 1000's been killed over the years did make the walrus slowly retreat into the most iced areas around Franz Josef Land. We also saw an old steam engine still standing at the beach. This object was brought on shore for a whaling operation much later, 1903, and soon the Norwegian whalers had killed out all whales in the area and moved rapidly to South Georgia and Grytviken, in the Southern Ocean. Yesterday we were able to spot remarkable numbers of whales as we approached the drop-off of the continental shelf into the deep Atlantic Ocean. It took almost 100 years for the whales to recover in this area.
After lunch we had moved to the northern tip of Bjørnøya and did a short and brief visit to the radio station manned by 8 men and one woman. A fast visit to the shop to pinch some high Arctic souvenirs was one option. Others preferred to stroll around the station to look at flowers and birds and some even joined the Arctic plunge club. Not only the cold water is the challenge, to get the patch and certificate you also have to be nude! The staff also took the opportunity to practice gun handling as tomorrow we will be in polar bear country.
For sure, we had a busy day but another great surprise was still to come. The crew had fished all through the day and our hotel manager announced the dinner and surely recommended fresh fish. I'm sure many used this opportunity! Bjørnøya is and will always be a highlight, no matter what time you arrive nor what weather you get. It is easy to understand why Alastair Maclean wrote the book Bear Island, after going through the Pearly Gates. We never found the GOLD but did fall in love with a gilded place!
Magical, magnificent, splendid... Yes, many words can be used about this mystical island, located in the Barent Sea almost half way between Nord Kapp, northern tip of mainland Norway and the southern tip of Svalbard, Sørkapp. The island was first sighted by a Dutch expedition in 1596, sent out with the aim to find a shortcut to the rich spice island in eastern Indonesia!
Why not? As planet earth is a globe this would maybe work and recently at this time, several navigators had made it. Of course Wilhelm Barents got caught in the ice as he made it further to the northeast, and this became one of the Holy Grails of Arctic History. The wintering place was not located until 1871 as a Norwegian seal catcher was sailing along the eastern side of Novaya Zemlja, the islands which separate the Barents and Kara Sea.
As we approached the island by midnight, and here a coldwater current merges into the warm Gulf Stream, the southern part of the island was covered by a thin layer of fog. As the captain and his officers brought the ship into a shallow bay, Sørhamna, an interesting phenomenon occurred as the radar screen did not show the actual shore line! There were just too many birds flying in or out from the cliff face!
Our expedition leader Bud did make an early wake-up call and all Zodiacs were in the water waiting to take us for a remarkable cruise. The southern part of the island is more or less 200 - 400 meter steep cliffs dropping right into the ocean, sedimentary bedrock and ideal for breeding sea birds. The last count estimated the seabird numbers at about 1,000,000 breeding pairs!
Of course being so far north, latitude 74° 22'N, 019°09'E, the species diversity is not high but the sheer numbers here make up for everything. The cliff faces were cluttered with kittiwakes, common and thick-billed murres. Predators like glaucous gulls together with great skuas were having a feast on eggs, chicks and even adult birds. Off the beach line the water was covered by murres waiting to fly out for a long feeding turn or ready to fly up to make a change and incubate the egg.
So what makes it possible for all these birds to maintain a huge reproduction? The base for this extreme food chain are several: 24 hours of daylight from about early May to early September; nutrient rich water; and also cold, as the cold water can dissolve more oxygen. The birds and also the whales we encountered yesterday mainly prey on the small fish capelin.
After this magnificent Zodiac cruise full of adventures, with remarkable bird life and interesting caves, tunnel, arches, and stacks, every one was ready for a breakfast. Soon next on the program was more Zodiac cruising but also a landing at Kvalrossbukta, for the keen hikers to explore the cliffs from the top. Place names do tell us about previous history, and this beach used to be an important haul out for walrus, but by 1610 the Dutch and English whalers were up here to hunt the animals. Reports about several 1000's been killed over the years did make the walrus slowly retreat into the most iced areas around Franz Josef Land. We also saw an old steam engine still standing at the beach. This object was brought on shore for a whaling operation much later, 1903, and soon the Norwegian whalers had killed out all whales in the area and moved rapidly to South Georgia and Grytviken, in the Southern Ocean. Yesterday we were able to spot remarkable numbers of whales as we approached the drop-off of the continental shelf into the deep Atlantic Ocean. It took almost 100 years for the whales to recover in this area.
After lunch we had moved to the northern tip of Bjørnøya and did a short and brief visit to the radio station manned by 8 men and one woman. A fast visit to the shop to pinch some high Arctic souvenirs was one option. Others preferred to stroll around the station to look at flowers and birds and some even joined the Arctic plunge club. Not only the cold water is the challenge, to get the patch and certificate you also have to be nude! The staff also took the opportunity to practice gun handling as tomorrow we will be in polar bear country.
For sure, we had a busy day but another great surprise was still to come. The crew had fished all through the day and our hotel manager announced the dinner and surely recommended fresh fish. I'm sure many used this opportunity! Bjørnøya is and will always be a highlight, no matter what time you arrive nor what weather you get. It is easy to understand why Alastair Maclean wrote the book Bear Island, after going through the Pearly Gates. We never found the GOLD but did fall in love with a gilded place!
