Franz Josef Land and snow bunting. Some ivory gulls, little auks and Brünnich's guillemots opt to spend the winter on the islands. The polar bear population of Franz Josef Land lies within the Barents Sea subpopulation, which also includes polar bears inhabiting Svalbard and the western coast of Novaya Zemlya. In 2004, the Barents Sea subpopulation was estimated at 2,650. There is also a population of Arctic fox, which typically have their territories near seabird habitats. Being declared as a marine mammal sanctuary, the island has rich biodiversity of rare marine mammals. Three species of seals habit the archipelago. Harp seal is the
History of Franz Josef Land and Karl Weyprecht of Austria–Hungary on board the schooner "Tegetthoff", this expedition's primary goal was to find the north-east passage with the secondary goal of locating the North Pole. The ship left Tromsø, Norway, in July 1872 but by August had become locked in pack ice north of Novaya Zemlya. The vessel drifted and eventually reached a hitherto unknown archipelago, which they named in honor of Franz Joseph I (1830–1916), Emperor of Austria. In May 1874 Wayprecht decided that the crew of twenty-four should abandon the ice-bound ship. On August 16 they reached land at Novaya Zemlya. They followed the