- The national park was opened on 9 Sep 2009. It is Norway’s 31st national park, and Europe’s first marine national park (jointly with Koster NP in Sweden). It covers a surface of 354km2, although only 14km2 of it is land (see map above).
- The national park features many unique traits such as deep soft and hard bottoms (over 200m below), very exposed shallow sediments and rocks and deep water coral reefs. The deepest point in the park is 462m deep. The area also boasts a great variety of marine species (around 7,000), including invertebrates, fishes, sharks and seals.
- The national park is also a great place for bird-watching: sea birds and wading birds in particular are plentiful here – more than 260 species have been observed on Akerøya alone.
- Some 50 shipwrecks lie on the seabed in the area, the most famous of which is the frigate Lossen, which sank off the island of Vesterøy on Christmas Eve 1717.
- Tisler has the largest inshore reef in Europe, 1,200m long and about 200m wide. It is home to species not found anywhere else in Europe. The reef was discovered as recently as 2002.
- The waters between Heia and Torbjørnskjær are an important pupping area for common seals. They keep to the most remote areas to avoid the worst of boat traffic.
- On land you’ll find rare plants and flowers such as the musk orchid or the horned (yellow) poppy for example – 32 of them feature on the Norwegian Red List (i.e. are threatened) and should not be picked.