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| Spitsbergen |  
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Description:
Spitsbergen (or Svalbard as the Norwegians prefer to call it) is an archipelago roughly 1000km north of northern Norway and roughly 1000km south of the North Pole. It is situated between 74°N and 81°N and between 10°E and 35°E. Spitsbergen has always been no-mans-land until the Spitsbergen treaty was signed in 1925. From then the archipelago belongs to Norway. There are 4 inhabited settlements and some scientific stations. Longyearbyen, the administrative centre, is the largest with ca. 1500 inhabitants. Barentsburg, a Russian coal mining settlement, has ca. 850 inhabitants. Sveagruva, the functional Norwegian mine had around 100 inhabitants and Ny Ålesund, a scientific settlement had between 30 and 150 inhabitants, depending on the season. All settlements are found on the west coast, the part of Spitsbergen with the mildest climate due to the warm gulf current.
Only a couple of times per year expedition will be led by some companies, that will include ice diving only for VERY experienced dry suit divers. Most likely you can only dive with your own gear. If you are an enthousiastic experienced wetsuit diver who is looking for a change, then forget about it. This is way out of your league. We mention it because there is a possiblity to go diving here, how infrequent and exclusive it may be. | |
| Details: |
 Nearest commercial airport: Longyearbyen |
| Average visibility: 30 Horizontal metres |
| Dive conditions: Ocean/Sea, Salt water |
| Seasonality: Well... In summer (july - september), when it\'s not completely frozen. |
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Marinelife in the area:
| Species | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | | | Coastal fish & Reef Life |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Sea Squirts, Squat Lobsters, Many Species Of Star Fish, Spider Crabs, Soft Corals, Anemones, Peacock Worms, Dogfish, Kelp Walls, Sea-Snails, Crabs, Sea Butterflies, Various Arctic Fish, Shrubby Horse-Tails, Jelly-Fishes, Sea-Hedgehogs And Starfishes.
| | | Sea lions and fur seals | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | |
| | Probability of encounter:  0%,  0 > 60%,  60 > 90%,  90 > 100%
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