The Sea West of Spitsbergen

Since its discovery in 1596 Spitsbergen ? the beautiful island of arctic Norway ? has been the destination of many expeditions from different nations. Some of the most important research on the island was led by Gunnar Isachsen. The Norwegian army officer and polar scientist collected valuable topographic and bathymetric data and became the founder of his country's systematic research on Spitsbergen. In 1912, Fritjof Nansen ? the popular arctic explorer and scientist ? and his assistant Bjørn Helland-Hansen published a summary of the oceanographic observations made by Isachsen on his last journey to the island in 1910.