About halfway between mainland Norway and the southern tip of Spitsbergen Island is a large triangular island officially, administratively part of the Svalbard Archipelago. Bear Island sits on the western edge of the Barents Sea. The Barents Sea is one of the world's most productive arctic marine regions due to the meeting and mixing of water masses, warm saline waters from the south curve northward from the Norwegian coast and with cold, less salty waters coming from the Arctic Basin resulting in more nutrients for higher ocean productivity. Thus, the importance of the Barents Sea in the high Arctic region of the world.
Through the morning, National Geographic Endurance continued on a course toward Bear Island located on the western edge of the Barents Sea, roughly halfway between mainland Norway and the southern cape of Spitsbergen Island to the north. Fog literally poured over the island, making for quite dramatic photo images.
