16 Sep 2019

Arctic Adventure Highlights 2019

As our Russian Far East season for 2019 comes to an end, Heritage Expeditions Director of Operations and Expedition Leader Nathan Russ reflects on one of our most eventful Russian seasons.

For the last 13 years Heritage Expeditions and our trusty expedition vessels have made their way from the Southern Ocean up to the wild, remote and unknown coasts of the Russian Far East on our annual pilgrimages to explore these little-visited, wildlife and history rich shores.

As I sit on board our flagship vessel Spirit of Enderby (Professor Khromov) on the last day of our 2019 Russian Far East season I am extremely proud of the amazing experiences and encounters we have sought out for our expeditioners across the last 8 voyages here.

Each year we are increasingly amazed by what we discover, see and experience on our Arctic adventures, and having been lucky enough to be on board as we started the season back in May exploring Russia's Ring of Fire, it is only fitting that I am back on board as we end the season exploring the Kuril Islands from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

Our expeditions over the last 4 months have seen us sail the full coastline from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to up and around Wrangel Island in the High Arctic. Having watched Polar Bears and their cubs approaching our ship, sailed alongside Fin, Bowhead, Killer, Baird's Beaked, Sperm, Blue and North Pacific Right Whales, witnessed Kamchatka Brown Bear families hunting salmon, skies clouded with thousands of birds and enjoyed the warm hospitality of the locals, to pick out the 10 best experiences is no easy task, but there are a few that stand out in the selection of images below.

Russia Far East 2019 in Numbers
200+ Polar Bears and cubs
500+ Humpback Whales
30+ Bowhead Whales
1000s of Walrus
300+ Gray Whales
20+ Ribbon Seals
100s of Largha Seals
60+ Steller's Sea Eagles
300+ Beluga Whales
50+ Kamchatka Brown Bears
30+ landings/Zodiac cruises at Wrangel Island