Underwater Photo Location: Gashamna, West Point

This site is outside the westernmost sill in Hornsund, so it often has decent visibility and hosts a marine community more typical of the outer coast of western Spitsbergen than the fjord waters to the east. A steep shelving rock wall, mostly covered in a dense growth of Laminaria hyperborea, drops to a coarse sandy bottom at about 80 feet. Water temperature typically about 35F (2C) in July and August. Often a great site for zooplankton like pteropods, ctenophores and larvaceans.
Facts about Gashamna, West Point

• It is in Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
• Gashamna, West Point is in the Arctic.
• The typical depth is 0-30 Metres 0-100 Feet.
• The typical visibility is 3-10 Metres 10-30 Feet.