Day 143. Sailing the Berents Sea.

Cruising in the Arctic past Bear island. It's 9x12 miles. No bears, though. It's called Bear Island because when William Barents sailed through there, he saw polar bears swimming by, so he called it bear island, but apparently, they were just passing by. Lots of birds. The island receives the least amount of sun in Europe; in fact, it's cloudy and raining right now. Uninhabited, but 11 people there to man the weather station.
Ships can't be within 1 mile of polar bears, walruses, etc. Ships carrying oil and fuel of any kind must stay away from these islands, all to protect the polar bears and wildlife.
Norway Government is now limiting this area of the Arctic to 43 landing sites, and only 39 people (including 3 guides) can visit at a time. Ave temperature is below 10C⁰.
Ships must stay 12 miles away from the island, which is why the picture of the island looks so far away.Read more