Björnöya, Barents Sea
The island of Björnöya, or Bear Island, is located in the Barents Sea 120 nautical miles south of Svalbard and 200 nautical miles north of Norway. The island was discovered and named by an expedition under Wilhelm Barents in June 1596 when his party encountered and killed a bear on the island. Björnöya is at the southerly extent of the winter pack ice in this region and occasionally a polar bear is stranded on the island as the pack ice retreats north and east with the onset of summer. Our chances of encountering a bear today were minimal, but it was not bears that we came to see.
The southern tip of Björnöya has one of the most dramatic coastlines imaginable. Sheer cliffs rise to over 1,000 feet, indented by coves and bays where sea caves and tunnels beg for exploration by our nimble, inflatable Zodiacs. The scenery alone would be worth the visit, but the sedimentary layers of the uplifted rocks have created the perfect avian high rise accommodation. The isolated location of the island makes it the only available nesting location for thousands of square miles within the productive Barents Sea; spectacular numbers - hundreds of thousands - of seabirds cram onto these ledges to breed.
The breeding season began for most seabirds at the start of May and by now kittiwakes and fulmars have small chicks that will leave the nest when fully grown sometime in August. But the guillemots (a.k.a. murres) have a different strategy. They are weak flyers and find it inefficient to fly to and from the colony carrying fish to the chick, so they take the chick to the fish. At about three weeks of age, when less than half grown and quite unable to fly, the chicks leap from the ledges to the ocean on their first gravity-assisted “flight”. The passage to the ocean is fraught with danger, as predatory glaucous gulls and great skuas lie in wait. Those that successfully run the gauntlet swim out to sea with dad where they complete their development in a manner befitting a true seabird.
The island of Björnöya, or Bear Island, is located in the Barents Sea 120 nautical miles south of Svalbard and 200 nautical miles north of Norway. The island was discovered and named by an expedition under Wilhelm Barents in June 1596 when his party encountered and killed a bear on the island. Björnöya is at the southerly extent of the winter pack ice in this region and occasionally a polar bear is stranded on the island as the pack ice retreats north and east with the onset of summer. Our chances of encountering a bear today were minimal, but it was not bears that we came to see.
The southern tip of Björnöya has one of the most dramatic coastlines imaginable. Sheer cliffs rise to over 1,000 feet, indented by coves and bays where sea caves and tunnels beg for exploration by our nimble, inflatable Zodiacs. The scenery alone would be worth the visit, but the sedimentary layers of the uplifted rocks have created the perfect avian high rise accommodation. The isolated location of the island makes it the only available nesting location for thousands of square miles within the productive Barents Sea; spectacular numbers - hundreds of thousands - of seabirds cram onto these ledges to breed.
The breeding season began for most seabirds at the start of May and by now kittiwakes and fulmars have small chicks that will leave the nest when fully grown sometime in August. But the guillemots (a.k.a. murres) have a different strategy. They are weak flyers and find it inefficient to fly to and from the colony carrying fish to the chick, so they take the chick to the fish. At about three weeks of age, when less than half grown and quite unable to fly, the chicks leap from the ledges to the ocean on their first gravity-assisted “flight”. The passage to the ocean is fraught with danger, as predatory glaucous gulls and great skuas lie in wait. Those that successfully run the gauntlet swim out to sea with dad where they complete their development in a manner befitting a true seabird.
