a nice photo opportunity
the southern point has some nasty outcroppings
the mountain to the right is called Urd, with 536 m the highest point of the island
Bear Island, or Bjornoya is located in the Barends Sea, roughly halfway between Svalbard and the Norwegian mainland.
The island
has been used for whaling, hunting, fishing and mining, none of them resulted in permanent settlements.
A
small staff mans the meteorological station Herwighamna, but the rest of the island is left to the zillions of birds, resident
arctic foxes and the occasional polar bear.
During
World War II the area saw heavy fighting as the German Navy tried to stop the allied
Arctic Convoys delivering goods
and war material to Murmansk.
Allistair MacLean used his own arctic convoy experience to write his debut novel HMS Ulysses. His novel Bear Island describes the adventures of a film crew on Bjornoya.
Most of the year the island is shrouded in fog and clouds, but
luckily for us not on June 19 2013. When we sailed by the weather cleared and we even got plenty of
sunshine.
end
there is a beach but how do you go up?
nothing to see there, Norway is still hundreds of kilometers away
in the morning we have our first sight of the east coast of Bear Island with a heavy overcast sky
but when we come nearer, the weather gets better
a treacherous bunch indeed
the south coast seems even more rugged
those white specs are birds
the rich fishgrounds around the island attrack the Russian vessel Frio Murmansk
