07 Aug 2021

Day One on Wrangel Island

We first caught glimpse of Wrangel Island at 0500 hours, the outline of the island a welcome sight after a boisterous evening on the sea. Our ice-free passage from Kolyuchin Island saw us arriving in Doubtful Bay at 1000 hours. Here we enjoyed a landing at the abandoned settlement of Zvezdnyi, visiting a museum and walking in the tundra where some of the luckier guests observed Musk Oxen, Snowy Owl, Arctic Fox and healthy numbers of Snow Geese before dropping our Overlanders off on their adventure across Wrangel Island.

After lunch we visited the 180th meridian which divides the Earth into the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Here guests had the option of either visiting an archaeological site or Mammoth Hill. Encroaching fog saw the hill hikers return while a Polar Bear on the beach prevented the other group from visiting the archaeological site. Instead we enjoyed a Zodiac cruise and whale watching, after a while increasing winds and a choppy sea saw us back on board the warmth of Spirit of Enderby.

Image © J.Mishina, Heritage Expeditions