13 Jun 2012
Ice Seals
Ice affected our plans for the Shanter Islands in a good way - it meant there were still lots of seals around.
The Sea of Okhotsk has four species of Ice Seals (seals that live and breed on the ice). They are Ribbon (seen above), Ringed, Bearded and Spotted. Of these, Ribbon are probably rarest and hardest to see because very few people venture into the areas they inhabit. Yesterday we saw over 100 Ribbon Seals. This morning we continued our search for Bowhead Whales. These were almost hunted to extinction but are making a slow recovery, particularly in the Sea of Okhotsk. The team is still out on deck in brilliant sunny, warm and calm weather continuing the Bowhead search as I write.
11 Jun 2012
Iony Island is rarely marked on maps, but must be one of the outstanding natural history sites of the world. Probably only a handful of people have…READ MORE
10 Jun 2012
A small remnant population of Western Grey Whales was discovered in Pit'turn Bay, Sakhalin Island in the 1980's, so it was inevitable that there woul…READ MORE
09 Jun 2012
Our expediton to explore the Sea of Okhotsk began in earnest today. This sea which is almost land locked, is extremely cold and teeming with marine l…READ MORE
