Bjørnøya

The island of Bjørnøya is situated between the Norwegian mainland and Spitsbergen and is the southernmost part of Svalbard’s archipelago. The island is surrounded by a shallow sea, rich in fish and therefore nourishment for the large populations of seabirds breeding in the cliffs along Bjørnøya’s coastline, particularly in the south.
Bjørnøya was discovered in 1596, and its history revolves around hunting; particularly that of walrus, polar bears, seals, whales and seabirds. In the 1900s, coal and galena were extracted for a short while. Bjørnøya is important for scientific research, especially that of seabirds and environmental contaminants/ecotoxicology. Weather observations have been carried out from the Meteorological Institute’s weather station since 1932. Bjørnøya was officially made a protected nature reserve in 2002.