Gjesværstappan is a group of high, steep-sided, grass-covered islands which are located north of the island village of Gjesvær in

Nordkapp Municipality ), North Cape, Norway, other uses, North Cape (disambiguation) Nordkapp ( en, North Cape; sme, Davvinjárga or ; fkv, Kappa or ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town o ...

Troms og Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; sme, Romsa ja Finnmárku ; fkv, Tromssa ja Finmarkku; fi, Tromssa ja Finnmark, lit. Troms and Finnmark in English), is a county in northern Norway that was established on 1 January 2020 as the result of a regional reform. ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The three main islands are ''Storstappen'', ''Kjerkestappen'', and ''Bukkstappen''. Storstappan rises to a height of above sea level and has a peninsula called ''Stauren'' that rises to . Kjerkestappen rises to an elevation of above sea level and Bukkstappen rises to above sea level. Historically, there were people that lived on the islands and there was a church on Kjerkestappen.

Nature reserve

The islands contain a large colony of

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

s and have been designated a nature reserve since 1983, as well as being an Important Bird Area (IBA). The land area of the reserve is , but the reserve also includes of the sea surrounding the islands. The largest colonies of cliff-breeding seabirds are mainly located on the

bird cliff Bird cliffs, or nesting cliffs, are steep cliffs with numerous small shelves which serve as nesting locations for bird colonies. Bird cliffs are found on islands in the North Atlantic and Arctic, such as the Faroe Islands, Iceland, the Svalbard ...

s of the biggest island, Storstappen, and between June 15 and August 15 visitors are not allowed to set foot on this island. The colony is regarded as important because of the large numbers of birds. A 1988 survey found 70 pairs of

great cormorant The great cormorant (''Phalacrocorax carbo''), known as the black shag in New Zealand and formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a w ...

s, around 50 pairs of

European shag The European shag or common shag (''Gulosus aristotelis'') is a species of cormorant. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Gulosus''. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, mai ...

s, 5000 to 10,000 pairs of black-legged kittiwakes, about 600 pairs of

common murre The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to ...

s, 25 pairs of

thick-billed murre The thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot (''Uria lomvia'') is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies ''Uria lomvia arra'' ...

s, about 2500 pairs of

razorbill The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis im ...

s and about 50,000 pairs of Atlantic puffins. The 1988 survey also found

northern gannet The northern gannet (''Morus bassanus'') is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae. It is native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, breeding in Western Europe and Northeastern North America. It is the largest seabird in t ...

nests.

Media gallery

Stauren-Storstappen-Gjesværstappan.jpg, Stauren Gjesvaerstappan fuglefjell.jpg, Nesting on Gjesvaerstappan Gjesvaertappan 1.jpg, Gjesvaerstappan viewed from Gjesvær Gjesvaertappan.jpg, Gjesvaerstappan viewed from Gjesvær Gjesvær.jpg, Gjesvaerstappan viewed from Gjesvær Gjesværstappan (2).jpg, Gjesvaerstappan viewed from the south Gjesværstappan natural reserve-2.jpg, Gjesvaerstappan Gjesværstappan natural reserve-3.jpg, Gjesvaerstappan Gjesværstappan natural reserve-4.jpg, Gjesvaerstappan Gjesværstappan natural reserve-5.jpg, Gjesvaerstappan Gjesværstappan natural reserve.jpg, Gjesvaerstappan Gjesv%C3%A6rstappan-1.jpg, Gjesvaerstappan Gjesværstappan.JPG, Gjesvaerstappan Gjesværstappan.jpg, Gjesvaerstappan Morus bassanus-Gjesværstappan.jpg,

Morus bassanus The northern gannet (''Morus bassanus'') is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae. It is native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, breeding in Western Europe and Northeastern North America. It is the largest seabird in t ...

on Gjesvaerstappan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjesvaerstappan Nordkapp Islands of Troms og Finnmark Nature reserves in Norway Important Bird Areas of Norway Important Bird Areas of Arctic islands Seabird colonies