17 May 2012
Divers Below
This morning off Urup Isalnd we enjoyed a rare sleep-in, followed by a very interesting lecture from our Russian Historian, Leinid Kotenko, on Russia's "invasion" and subsequent conquest of the Kuril Islands in August 1945.
Then it was time to get back to the survey and send our divers into the water to check out what the Otters are feeding on. This information will help the researchers determine the optimum habitats for these animals. We also managed to "ground truth" our counts by comparing the numbers counted from the sea patrols with those of the landing parties, allowing us to build a correction factor into the data.
Researchers and expeditioners all very satisfied with the work so far.
151° 51.2' E 46° 51.8' N
15 May 2012
In the early afternoon the fog rolled in, curtailing our survey just as we were counting good numbers of Otters along the eastern coast of Urup Islan…READ MORE
14 May 2012
The storms have passed and the sun has broken through the clouds, making our work much more pleasant. We conducted two coastal surveys today along th…READ MORE
13 May 2012
Sea and wind conditions have eased somewhat allowing us to work the South and South East coasts of the small Kuril Islands. The two shore parties …READ MORE
