15 Aug 2017

SOE: Arctic Wildlife Delights at Dream Head

Delightfully calm seas greeted us as we made our way up the west coast of Wrangel Island, anchoring just to the south of Dream Head just after breakfast. Our scout boat put rangers ashore who quickly discovered two bears near the landing area that were moving away, so gave the all clear. In short time we all joined them and split up into short, medium and long walking groups. The long group set off across the tundra with Gennady, aiming for the flanks of Dream Head Peak. During our 10 km round trip, we encountered flocks of snow geese, snowy owls, distant views of six musk oxen and nine polar bears, and a scampering young arctic fox during our return leg. Toward the interior, the low clouds lifted to reveal a vast landscape of rounded valleys and more rugged peaks.

Our medium group joined ranger Juliana and made our way slowly along Nanaune Lagoon, photographing tundra flowers, mushrooms, and spying are number of shorebirds including ruddy turnstones and the like. Moving quietly en masse, we had a close encounter with a pair of musk oxen, much to our photographers’ delight, and reached the old Chukchi hunter’s hut, now being taken over by lovely daisies. For those who stayed close to our landing area, our search was rewarded with special discoveries including the skull and skeleton of a polar bear, but it was when most of the short and medium walkers had returned to the ship that ranger Igor, with Tatiana and Patrick (who decided to stay ashore) had a close encounter with a polar bear who ambled along the beach toward them, but when it caught their scent, turned, and walked back the way it had come.

Our changeover of Overlanders (Northbound swapped with Southbound) went smoothly in the afternoon. Those who had travelled across the interior were flush with stories of wildlife and wonder. Those about to depart were near bursting with excitement. And so they should be, exploring the interior of Wrangel Island is something that has been experienced by only a small number of people, and most of those have been rangers and scientists. No more than 10 people have the chance to do this on each of our three Across the Top of the World voyages each year.