Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island in the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the westernmost bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, Norwegian Sea, and Greenland Sea. The island was first used as a whaling base of operations in the 17th and 18th centuries. In addition to humans, four primarily terrestrial mammalian species inhabit the island: the Arctic Fox, the Svalbard reindeer, polar bears, and accidentally introduced Southern Vole, which are only found in Grumant. There are fifteen to twenty types of marine mammals, including whales, dolphins, seals and walruses. The area is most known for seabirds, as about 20 million have been counted near shore in the late summer. Sixteen species are on the IUCN Red List. In order to protect this critical habitat for seabirds and other marine life, Mission Blue declared Spitzbergen Island a Hope Spot in 2013.
