Foynøya
General: Named after the Norwegian Svend Foyn, who in the late 19th century invented the explosive harpoon gun to hunt large whales (he did us such a great favour, didn't he!?). Foynøya is a small, remote rock at the end of the world and part of the Northeast Svalbard Nature Reserve.
Foynøya, looking east.
Geology: Basement gneisses.
Recommended book for further, well-digestable (really!) info about geology and landscape of Svalbard.
Landscape: Steep rocks, large boulders.
Foynøya (northern end, looking west). It must have been here or very nearby that Josef van Dongen and Captain Sora were marooned for a while in July 1928.
History: It was near Foynøya that Italian Umberto Nobile drifted on the ice for a while in 1928 after the catastrophic crash of his airship 'Italia'. Two men of one of the many rescue expeditions for Nobile were stranded on Foynøya for a while in July 1928.
