![]() While there may have been some Norwegian hunters to the islands slightly earlier, the official discovery of Franz Josef Land on Augis credited to the Austro-Hungarian expedition of Julius Payer and Carl Weyprecht on the Admiral Tegetthoff. In stark contrast to the 1596 official discovery by Willem Barents of the Svalbard Archipelago, Franz Josef Land lay in wait for discovery for almost three more centuries. Guests on the 148-passenger expedition ship spent five days exploring the exceedingly remote and rarely visited archipelago, visiting historic sites, with thrilling encounters with massive walrus and polar bears – one of the most exciting Arctic expeditions ever. Seals, bearded seals and an amazing species of mammals, chose Franz Josef Land and the water areas around it as his home.īeside flora and fauna Franz Josef Land’s highlights are the large amount of historical places, set up by members of various expeditions, who used Franz Josef Land as the springboard for reaching the North Pole.Lindblad Expedition’s National Geographic Explorer took part in making history this month when they landed at Franz Josef Land in the Russian Arctic, marking the first time a non-Russian expedition vessel called here since 1928. The waters of Franz Josef Land are visited by whales, including the Humpback, the Bowhead, the Barwhal and the White whale Beluga. There is also a population of Arctic fox, which typically have their territories near seabird habitats. On the flat tundra nest other species such as: Common Eider, Purple Sandpiper, Arctic Skua, Glaucous Gull, Ivory Gull, Arctic Tern and Snow Bunting.įranz Josef Land is home to two Arctic giants – the Polar bear and the walrus. Little Auk are common throughout the archipelago. Other seabirds such as Fulmar, Kittiwake, Brünnich's Guillemot, Black Guillemot and About 5 million sea birds nest on the archipelagoĮvery year, with the thick-billed guillemot accounting for 1 million. Franz Josef Land is a severe and amazing beautiful world of glaciers, mosses and lichens. Only 4 of the islands (George Land, Wilczek Land, Graham Bell Island and Alexandra Land) have areas exceeding 100,000 hectares.Ĩ5% of the area of Franz Josef Land is covered by glaciers and it is the biggest frozen area of land in the Russian Arctic.ĭespite the truly harsh climate the nature of Franz Josef Land is unique in It is interesting to note that 71% of the total islands occupy only 0.4% of its area. Geographically, the Franz Josef Land is a group of 191 islands, stretching from west to east 375 km and from north to south 234 km. It was named in honor of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph the First. The distance of Franz Josef Land to the North Pole is only 900 km, to Kola Peninsula 1200 km and to Novaya Zemlya 360 km.įranz Josef Land was officially discovered in 1873 by the expedition Weyprecht K. ![]() Welcome to Franz Josef Land The biggest frozen area of land in the Russian Arctic.įranz Josef Land is the very special archipelago of uninhabited islands located in the north-eastern part of the Barents Sea and is the northernmost portion of the land of Eurasia. ![]()
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