Recherche Fjord
[Guijarro Garcia, Elena, et al. 2007. ''Bottom Trawling and Scallop Dredging in the Arctic: Impacts of Fishing on Non-Target Species, Vulnerable Habitats, and Cultural Heritage''. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers, p. 302.] () is a small fjord on the south side of
Bellsund
Bellsund is a long sound on the west coast of Spitsbergen, part of the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. It is separated from Van Mijenfjorden by the islands of Akseløya and Mariaholmen. Bellsund is located south of Nordenskiöld Land and north ...
,
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...
. The glacier
Recherchebreen debouches into the fjord from south, and
Renardbreen from west.
History
The fjord is named after the
French cruiser ''
La Recherche
''La Recherche'' is a monthly French language popular science magazine covering recent scientific news. It is published by the Société d'éditions scientifiques (the ''Scientific Publishing Group''), a subsidiary of Financière Tallandier. Tallan ...
'', which visited Spitsbergen in 1838 and 1839. The Dutch had named it in the early 17th century ''Schoonhaven'' (English: Beautiful Bay). The English commonly called it ''Ice Bay''. The
whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...
industries
of the Netherlands and
of the United Kingdom established
shore stations within the fjord in the first half of the seventeenth century, most notably
Lægerneset
Lægerneset ( English: ''Camp Point'') is a headland on the eastern side of Recherche Fjord, Svalbard. It was once known as "Whale Head" or "Edge's Point", which was named after the English merchant and whaler Thomas Edge. An English whaling
...
on the eastern side of the fjord.
References
*Conway, W. M. 1906. No Man's Land: A History of Spitsbergen from Its Discovery in 1596 to the Beginning of the Scientific Exploration of the Country. Cambridge: At the University Press.
* Norwegian Polar Institut
Place Names of Svalbard Database
Whaling stations in Norway
Fjords of Spitsbergen
{{Spitsbergen-geo-stub