26 Jun 2018

Morzhovaya Bay - the perfect end to our voyage

Our Ring of Fire expedition has come to an end today. As we depart Spirit of Enderby we reflect on a busy few days since leaving the Kuril Islands.

Our zodiac cruise on the Zhupanova River enjoyed fantastic Steller Sea Eagle sightings and to our complete surprise, a beluga whale! Talking to the local fisherman it had been hanging around for over a week already – quite an unusual sighting for the area.

The weather conditions at the Commander Islands were not particularly favourable; however we still managed a landing at the village of Nikolskoye on Beringa Island. We left early from the Commander’s to try and get some protection from the wind and swell along the Kamchatka Peninsula for our last full day on board Spirit of Enderby. We were not disappointed and it was a good decision; while we soaked up flat seas, blue skies and sunshine on a new landing site in Morzhovaya Bay, a total of 13 brown bears were sighted throughout the day. The weather was so lovely we even enjoyed a pizza lunch party up on deck – what a way to end the expedition!

We have had a fantastic voyage with a specular array of wildlife sightings – our top 10 bird species picks for the expedition include: Steller’s Sea Eagle, Short Tailed Albatross, Red Legged Kittiwake, Rock Sandpiper, Red Faced Cormorant, Whiskered Auklet, Kittlitz’s Murrelet, Spectacled Guillemot, Crested Auklet and Japanese Robin.

© MKelly (from file)