Bear Island

Bjørnøya sits alone in the Barents Sea roughly halfway between the Norwegian mainland and Spitsbergen, a low island with cliffs at its southern end that rise over four hundred metres and hold seabirds in numbers running into the hundreds of thousands: guillemots, kittiwakes and fulmars packed onto every ledge. A meteorological station on the northern shore is the only inhabited place. Barentsz named it in 1596 after a polar bear his crew fought.

What you actually see

• The southern cliffs - walls over four hundred metres carrying vast seabird colonies.
• The guillemot ledges - the packed nesting sites through the breeding season.
• The weather station - the only inhabited point on the island.
• The 1596 naming - the encounter that gave the island its name.

When to go

June to August is the seabird season and the practical window. Fog is very frequent around the island. Landing depends on swell and permission.

Honest expectations

Fog shrouds the island for much of the summer and ships often see nothing. Landing is controlled and often impossible. There is no scheduled transport of any kind.

Nearby

Spitsbergen is north, and the Norwegian mainland is south.