Month in ice

Hi all!

Been a while since my laptop last been connected to the internet.

As many of you could have known (if you read my previous post), we went on the long expedition to bring musk ox. It started in Vladovostok on July 23. The plan was to take a boat we prepared for the expedition from Vladivostok all the way to Cherskii, load there veterinarians and rangers and head all the way to Taimyr peninsula and catch 18 musk ox on the Begichev Island. Actually distance from Cherskii to Taimyr is just a quarter comparing with Vladivostok-Cherskii route.

It took us around 17 days to get from Vladivostok to Bering straight and enter Arctic Ocean. Overall expedition went well and we avoided big storms and the storms we met, were all bareable for the boat. Did I tell you that we named the boat "The Ark". I can not say that expedition was easy, since the boat is small and it bounces quiet badly on any ocean wave, but first part went ok.

Problems started in the Arctic Ocean. Normally in this time of the year all coastal areas are free of ice. Thanks to global warming Arctic ocean is open most of the time. But that was not the case this year. According to most recent report from Russia institute of Arctic and Antarctic, this year is the biggest ice anomaly in 30 years. Simply saying Chukchi sea is full of ice and this ice blocked our way further west.

Couple days after we entered arctic ocean started to blow southern wind which cleared a narrow path along the coast. We rushed into that path, but about 100km later path ended and ice returned to shore behind our backs. So next 31 day we spent in ice, trying to go further, then we ran out of fuel and had to return back to refuel to village by Bering straight and then we went west again. All these activities were in various ice conditions (from sporadic to intense ice). Finally after 31 day in ice we managed to pass and safely made it to Cherskii. But it is already a late autumn here and it is too late to go to Begichev island this year. So had to postpone the expedition for next year. Over the winter will have to do some repairs for the ship. Have to fix or replace the propeller and also plastic on the front of the boat is broken. Too much ice for one little plastic calmari fishing vessel:)

No I am urgently working on winter preparations for the Park and all research site. Have to transport all the forage for animals, food for rangers other supplies and fuel before rivers freeze. Time is running quiet short but I think we will manage to get all things done. Being away from internet or connection for 2 months doesn't help with the project.

Overall your support (or any other support) is much appreciated and needed. In the next several months will have to find a way to sustainably support the Pleistocene Park.

During the expedition i kept a diary. Once I am done with autumn preparations and will get to good internet will post it here and will add some images from the expedition. Diary is in Russian but I think if someone is interested google translate is doing quiet a good job in translations these days.

All the best

Nikita