Edgeøya: Habenichtbukta, Svarttangen

Svart­tan­gen, Edgeøya: vir­tu­al tour

Edgeøya: Habe­nicht­buk­ta

Habe­nicht­buk­ta is a shal­low, nar­row bay that is cut­ting deep into the sou­thwes­tern coast of Edgeøya. The shore­li­ne is rocky, with small coas­tal cliffs and coar­se bould­er bea­ches with lar­ge amounts of drift­wood. The tun­dra plains bet­ween the sea (Storfjord) and the cha­rac­te­ristic table-shaped moun­ta­ins are stret­ching for kilo­me­t­res with den­se vege­ta­ti­on and lar­ge wet­lands.

The bay is shal­low and stones make navi­ga­ti­on in its inner part hazar­dous even for small boats. It was nevert­hel­ess known to and used by Pomors (Rus­si­an hun­ters) and wha­lers cen­tu­ries ago.

Habe­nicht­buk­ta: Svart­tan­gen

Lush, green tun­dra south of Habe­nicht­buk­ta. Despi­te of its green, con­ti­nuous vege­ta­ti­on car­pet, this tun­dra is part of the high-arc­tic vege­ta­ti­on zone in Spits­ber­gen as its spe­ci­es diver­si­ty is quite limi­t­ed. The­re is a trap­per hut in the back­ground.

Svart­tan­gen: trap­pers’ hut

The trap­per hut on Svart­tan­gen south of Habe­nicht­buk­ta. Edgeøya was an important hun­ting ground for trap­pers hun­ting polar bears until they (the bears) got ful­ly pro­tec­ted in 1973. The huts that have not been used any­mo­re have deca­yed sin­ce. This hut south of Habe­nicht­buk­ta was pro­ba­b­ly ori­gi­nal­ly built in 1901, but it was later enlar­ged and repai­red. It was in quite poor con­di­ti­on when this pan­ora­ma was shot in 2014, and it won’t be long any­mo­re until it is just a ruin.

Habe­nicht­buk­ta: north side

The best known part of Habe­nicht­buk­ta is on the north side of the bay, whe­re the remains of a wha­ling sta­ti­on and a pomor (Rus­si­an hun­ters) site can be seen. The­re is not too much left at the sur­face after cen­tu­ries of decay: foun­da­ti­ons, crumbling bricks are lying around here and the­re, and woo­den posts mark the cor­ners of for­mer buil­dings.

The his­to­ri­cal site is strict­ly pro­tec­ted and off limits sin­ce 2010. The for­bidden area is bet­ween the coast and a lagoon, bet­ween the photographer’s posi­ti­on and the sai­ling ship (SV Anti­gua). Else­whe­re, you can still roam around quite free­ly if you have the rare oppor­tu­ni­ty.

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