Freemansundet
Encyclopedia
Freemansundet is the sound separating Barentsøya
to the north from Edgeøya
. It is named after Alderman Ralph Freeman
, who was involved in the English
whaling
trade in the early 17th century. The Polar Bear
, Ursus maritimus, is a seasonal visitor to the Freemansundet; this species has a genetically distinct deme
within the Barents Sea
region.
Barentsøya
Barents Island is one of the smaller islands in the Svalbard archipelago, lying between Edge Island and Spitsbergen. Barents Island has no permanent human inhabitants. Named for the Dutch explorer Willem Barents , it is a part of Norway.An Arctic island, around 43 per cent its area of is glaciated...
to the north from Edgeøya
Edgeøya
Edgeøya, occasionally anglicised as Edge Island, is an uninhabited Norwegian island in southeast of the Svalbard archipelago; it is the third largest island in this archipelago. An Arctic island, it forms part of the South East Svalbard Nature Reserve, home to polar bears and reindeer. Its eastern...
. It is named after Alderman Ralph Freeman
Ralph Freeman
Sir Ralph Freeman was an English structural engineer, responsible for the design of several of the world's most impressive bridges....
, who was involved in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
trade in the early 17th century. The Polar Bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
, Ursus maritimus, is a seasonal visitor to the Freemansundet; this species has a genetically distinct deme
Deme (biology)
In biology, a deme is a term for a local population of organisms of one species that actively interbreed with one another and share a distinct gene pool...
within the Barents Sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
region.
External links
- Norwegian Polar Institute Place Names of Svalbard Database