Sjuøyane

Portrait of Svalbard's northernmost islands

Location of Sjuøyane north of Nordaustland.

General

The name Sjuøyane means ‘The Seven Islands’, a name that hardly requires further explanation. Sjuøyane are the northernmost part of the Svalbard achipelago; little Rossøya, more a skerry than an island, is at 80°50’N. Rossøya is the very northernmost outlier of the Sjuøyane and thus of Europe.

Rossøya and Vesle Tavleøya, Sjuøyane, Svalbard

Rossøya (left) and Vesle Tavleøya, the northernmost islands of Sjuøyane.

Ice conditions can be difficult even in times of climate change, but they are often earlier accessible than other parts of Svalbard further southeast because of the influence of the northernmost branch of the Gulf Stream.

Drift ice on the shore of Isflakbukta, Phippsøya.

Waldenøya west of Sjuøyane proper may be counted as part of this little archipelago in a slightly wider sense. Sjuøyane are part of the Northeast Svalbard Nature Reserve.

Sjuøyane Panorama

There are individual pages with more photos including 360 degree panoramic images and further background information for Phippsøya, Rossøya and Waldenøya.

Geology

Basement gneis and granite of various sorts with many intrusions. The colourful mixture of magmatic and metamorphic rocks, both solid bedrock and erratics, is quite interesting.

Granite with various intrusions on Waldenøya west of Sjuøyane.

There are many erratic boulders from northern Nordaustland, kind of an open air exhibition of that region’s geology.

Landscape

Very barren, rocky landscape with some coastal plains, otherwise mountaineous terrain with steep slopes and markant plateaus on top, connected by more or less flat lowlands.

Phippsøya, the largest island of Sjuøyane, seen from south to north.

The lowlands are interesting: very barren when seen just from the distance, there is actually a lot to see if you can get closer such as well developed old beach ridges, ice wedges, lichens and every here and there even some flowers, colourful rocks … all those small details. There is a lot of driftwood and unfortunately also trash on many beaches, brought up here by currents. There are no glaciers. The largest island is Phippsøya. Martensøya and Parryøya are smaller, but of a similar appearance.

Nelsonøya with its peculiar shape.

The other, smaller islands are so steep that it is hardly possible to land there. Nelsonøya has a very conspicuous shape similar to an old-fashioned top hat

Flora and Fauna

High arctic environment, very barren tundra with little vegetation. There are mostly lichens and mosses which can be quite colourfull and in places Svalbard poppy and saxifrages.

Svalbard poppy on Phippsøya.

There are small colonies of seabirds including puffins and ivory gulls. Groups of walrus are sometimes ashore, and polar bears are not uncommon.

Polar bear, Sjuøyane.

History

The names of the individual islands tell a bit about the history. Phippsøya was named after the Englishman John Constantine Phipps, who was in the area in 1773 during an attempt to reach the north pole, as was Parry in 1827, after whom another island is named … guess which one … yes, Parryøya 😜. Nelson (yes, the Nelson) was on board one of his ships as a young midshipman, as the name Nelsonøya tells us. Legend has it that the young daredevil almost fell victim to an angry polar bear – that’s what the legend says, at least, be it true or not.

The famous Swedish explorer Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld visited, mapped and named some of the islands in 1863. The American north pole expeditionist Walter Wellman spent some weeks on Waldenøya in 1894 after having lost his ship in the ice. Other than that, the islands haven’t seen much activity of historical significance.

This hut was built as a shelter for shipwrecked people by the Norwegian government in 1936 as one of very few huts in Svalbard built for this purpose.
It is the only hut on ‘The Seven Islands’ (Sjuøyane).