Sjuøyane, or the Seven Islands, are located at the far north of the Svalbard archipelago. As the name implies, this is a group of seven islands: Phippsøya, Martensøya, Parryøya, Nelsonøya, Waldenøya, Tavleøya, and Rossøya.
Rossøya is the smallest and northernmost of the islands, making it the northernmost land of Norway. All of the islands have bizarre hat-shaped mountains, which make ideal breeding grounds for seabirds, and were named for members of the English North Pole expeditions, led by the explorers Phipps and Parry.When the ice breaks up around the spring (April – May) the islands start to wake up with the return of the seabirds. With huge numbers of little auks being the most common, it’s also possible to see nesting colonies of common and Brunnich’s guillemots, and smaller colonies of Atlantic puffins. Phippsøya is home to one of the few remaining colonies of ivory gulls, which are dwindling in numbers and are now considered to be near threatened.