Despite its name, polar bears are rare on Bear Island, although a few do arrive in winter with the pack ice from the north. It more closely fits the name Willem Barents gave it in 1596: Bird Island. The southern coast is high and faced with sheer sea cliffs, attracting huge colonies of kittiwakes, guillemots, fulmars, auks and other breeding seabirds. Sørhamna is a cove on the coast offering us a place to witness the bounty of birdlife that enlivens a Barents Sea summer. (See also Herwighamna).