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Sea of Okhotsk: Seals, Seabirds and a Legacy of Sorrow

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Sea of Okhotsk: Seals, Seabirds and a Legacy of Sorrow SEA OF OKHOTSK: SEALS, SEABIRDS AND A LEGACY OF SORROW Little known outside of Russia and seldom visited by westerners, Russia's Sea of Okhotsk dominates the Northwest Pacific. Bounded to the north and west by the Russian continent and the Kamchatka Peninsula to the east, with the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island guarding the southern border, it is almost landlocked. Its coasts were once home to a number of groups of indigenous people: the Nivkhi, Oroki, Even and Itelmen. Their name for this sea simply translates as something like the ‘Sea of Hunters' or ‘Hunters Sea', perhaps a clue to the abundance of wildlife found here. In 1725, and again in 1733, the Russian explorer Vitus Bering launched two expeditions from the town of Okhotsk on the western shores of this sea in order to explore the eastern coasts of the Russian Empire. For a long time this town was the gateway to Kamchatka and beyond. The modern make it an inhospitable place. However the lure of a rich fishery town of Okhotsk is built near the site of the old town, and little and, more recently, oil and gas discoveries means this sea is has changed over the centuries. Inhabitants now have an air still being exploited, so nothing has changed. In 1854, no fewer service, but their lives are still dominated by the sea. Perhaps than 160 American and British whaling ships were there hunting no other sea in the world has witnessed as much human whales. Despite this seemingly relentless exploitation the suffering and misery as the Sea of Okhotsk. Between 1932 and wildlife thrives, albeit probably not in the numbers it used to, 1953 it is estimated that over 3 million prisoners (the vast but still in numbers that boggle the mind. The beautifully majority of them innocent) were transported across the Sea of marked and rare Ribbon Seals are abundant here. On the small Okhotsk to the Gulags of the Kolyma Goldfields. It is estimated island of Iony and globally important seabird nesting sites on that only 500,000 of those prisoners survived to make the Yamskie Islands, part of the Magadanskii Nature Reserve, journey home. The town and port of Magadan were built to hundreds of Steller Sea Lions haul out here each year to breed. process these prisoners. Today there is little evidence of the Seabird numbers in the Sea of Okhotsk can only be described town's sordid past, but the Mask of Sorrow, a large monument as spectacular. We are talking numbers rarely seen anywhere on a hill overlooking the town, is a poignant reminder of else in the world, such as an estimated 7 million on Matykil Magadan's origins. The upper regions of the Sea of Okhotsk Island in the Yamskiye Archipelago. Then there are islands like remain frozen for much of the year and winter storms Talan where the sky darkens when the Crested Auklets start 0800 945 3327 (within New Zealand) | +64 (0) 3 365 1355 | 1800 107 715 (within Australia) [email protected] | wildearth-travel.com massing offshore before returning each evening. Birds there and introductions to the ship, staff and crew after we have departed and we will also take the opportunity to conduct a number of safety briefings. include various species of guillemots, puffins, auklets and fulmars, but the richness of birdlife is not restricted to pelagic Day 2: At Sea species. The Sea of Okhotsk has one of the highest As we sail southwest towards Iony Island, the day is filled with illustrated concentrations of the majestic Steller's Sea Eagle of anywhere lectures and opportunities to spend time on the deck birdwatching and in the Russian Far East. Waterfowl are common, as are many looking for marine mammals, relax in the bar and library, or join the captain in the bridge as you adjust to life at sea. migratory species. Harder to see, but not uncommon on this expedition, are the magnificent Kamchatka Brown Bear and Day 3: Iony Island other mammals such as the Arctic Ground Squirrel. This is a Iony Island lies almost in the middle of the Sea of Okhotsk, about 120 truly unique expedition in that it travels through a little known nautical miles from the closest land. It is a tiny island, really just a rock, but what it lacks in physical size it more than makes up for wildlife. It is nothing sea. It is a region with a history that up until recently has been short of spectacular and very few people have seen it. Iony is a well known suppressed and not spoken about, the magnitude of the breeding ground for Steller Sea Lions. There is a small derelict research hut on tragedy of Stalin's Gulag system is only now becoming the island, a relic from a time when there was possibly more money for research than there is now. The island also teems with birdlife. Birds appear to apparent. It is also an area with very significant and important take up all available space. There are guillemots, kittiwakes and various wildlife values, both terrestrial and marine. There are still species of auklets, with Parakeet, Whiskered and Least being the most prominent. We will Zodiac cruise around the Island as Steller Sea Lions discoveries to be made and so for the inquisitive, adventurous occupy all the flat ground and the few rocky beaches make any landing and open-minded traveller, this is a ‘must do' expedition. Note: impossible. Expeditioners on this voyage have the option to stay on board Days 4 to 5: Shantar Archipelago as we transfer Akademik Shokalskiy to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy at the completion of the voyage - an There are 15 islands in this little known archipelago. Lying as they do in the western sector of the Sea of Okhotsk close to the continent, they are amongst extra three nights free! These will be sea days, with a minimal the last places here to become ice free each year. This late ice can sometimes expedition programme, and a chance to unwind in the library, restrict how far we can explore. On the other hand if there is ice around, it increases our chances of seeing some of the seals including Bearded, Ringed, bar and on the bridge. Those staying on board will disembark at Largha and Ribbon Seals that breed here. Potentially this area is one of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy on 30 June 2021. best to get observations and photographs of the beautifully patterned Ribbon Seals. The seas around the Shantar Archipelago are also renowned for ITINERARY Bowhead Whales. Our chances of seeing these depend on the ice, the majority of sightings are in fact from later in the season, but we will be looking very hard. If we can land there will be birding, botany and photography Day 1: Magadan excursions led by our team of on board naturalists. We have set aside two days here to maximise our chances of getting ashore and also having the best This morning we will all meet at a local hotel or central point and take a coach wildlife experiences. transfer to the Port of Magadan. (Full details of all these arrangements will be provided upon receipt of booking.) After a security check (we have Russian speaking staff to assist in this process) you and your luggage will be Day 6: Mal’minskie Islands transferred to the Akademik Shokalskiy. Once on board you will be shown to The sight that greets you when you approach these three small offshore your cabins and there will be a chance to unpack and explore the vessel. We islands is ‘birds’. There are birds everywhere, in the air, in the water and on plan to get underway soon after you have embarked. There will be briefings 0800 945 3327 (within New Zealand) | +64 (0) 3 365 1355 | 1800 107 715 (within Australia) [email protected] | wildearth-travel.com the land. Numerous species breed here including large numbers of Spectacled the climate is very much affected by the Sea of Okhotsk. Very few visitors have Guillemots, perhaps the largest colony of these birds anywhere, as they are ever landed on, or explored, the Koni Peninsula. Many of our landings are only found in the Sea of Okhotsk. Other birds include Ancient Murrelet, expeditionary, in that although we have landed at a number of places along Rhinoceros Auklet, Parakeet Auklet, Horned and Tufted Puffin, Crested Auklet the coast, many will be new and unknown to us, so we are never quite sure of and both Common and Brunnich’s Guillemot. It is little wonder with the what we will find. That is part of what makes our style of travel so interesting. abundance of birds that there is a good population of Steller’s Sea Eagles on We spend the day here with at least two landings at different sites. the island and adjacent mainland. Landing on the island is restricted to a small gravel spit and there are limited places to walk, however on the Day 10: Yamskiye Islands mainland we can stretch our legs and explore the taiga forest. These islands are also included in the Magadansky Zapovednik and are Day 7: Okhotsk Town claimed by some biologists to be the largest bird colony in the North Pacific. According to bird counts there are an estimated 7 million birds nesting on This town has featured in Russian Far East history since the earliest Cossack Matykil Island, the largest in the group. Birds include Common and Brunnich’s explorers came from the west. Prior to their arrival the indigenous people Guillemot, Crested, Parakeet and Least Auklets, Tufted and Horned Puffins undoubtedly had seasonal camps here to harvest the salmon.
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