20 Aug 2014

Calm Seas and Meeting the Locals

This expedition to Wrangel Island is drawing to a close. As I write this we are cruising through the Bering Strait, sea conditions are perfect with an oily calm and fog enveloping the hills around Cape Chaplino. We have had a busy couple of days spending a day at Kolyuchin Island and also Kolyuchin Inlet. In the inlet we met up with some friends from nearby Nutepelmen Village who are marine hunters.  When we met them they were picking up a scientist who had spent the summer monitoring migratory birds. Later in the afternoon we enjoyed the bird cliffs on Kolyuchin Island and then zodiac cruised to view a large walrus haul out.
Yesterday, with perfect weather conditions once more, calm, warm and under blue sky, we were hosted by the people of Uelen Village. The visit here gave us a window into life in a high marine hunters village. They had harpooned a grey whale a few hours earlier and were processing this and dividing it up around the members of the village. We are now continuing south and return to Anadyr on Friday.