WWF - Polar Bear - Polar Bear Expedition Diary

World Wildlife Fund

Species

Conservation Firsthand

Join WWF experts as they share their on-the-ground experiences in the places we're striving to save.
Learn more

Travel

Travel With WWF

Visit our travel section and choose from many amazing trips! Learn more

SUPPORT WWF

Polar Bear

Polar Bear Expedition Diary - Part 1

Margaret Williams, leader for WWF's Bering Sea & Kamchatka ecoregion, traveled to Chukotka, the northeastern most corner of Siberia on an expedition in April 2007. With several Russian and American colleagues, Margaret and her team traveled over 700 miles across the roadless, snow-covered Chukotka Peninsula to reach the small village of Vankarem, north of the Arctic Circle on the Chukchi Sea. The expedition is part of an ambitious effort to protect and study polar bears and address an increasing problem caused by climate change -- conflict between polar bears and humans.

Join Margaret on her journey across the vast and frozen tundra, and learn more about WWF's work in the Bering Sea & Kamchatka ecoregion.

Part 1: Arrival in the North
As I look out the plane window, I see nothing but white. A huge expanse of snow-covered tundra hugs the still-frozen Anadyr Bay, the summer home to a large population of beluga whales, migratory waterfowl, and many fish, including salmon. It has been a long a nine-hour flight from Moscow to Anadyr, the capital of Chukotka.

Chukotka is one of Russia's 89 provinces, located in the far northeast beyond Siberia. It's a huge area - larger than France and Switzerland combined - with a population of only 50,000. At this location in Russia, Alaska - where I live - is relatively close. In fact, at the Bering Strait, the narrow opening at the top of the Bering Sea, Alaska and Russia are just 50 miles apart! However, despite the close proximity of these two countries, there are no direct flights across the Bering Sea. And since I wasn't prepared to walk or ski across the frozen sea, I had to fly around the world to reach this remote land.

I am are here to start an expedition my colleague Viktor Nikiforov, Director of regional programs from WWF- Russia, and I have organized. Viktor's is a "Jack of all trades" in conservation, with over 20 years of experience in the Arctic. With us is a group of polar bear biologists from the Russian Institute of Nature Conservation, the Chukotka Research Institute for Fisheries and Oceanography, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska. Also joining us are a senior advisor to the Governor of Chukotka, and a journalist, photographer and interpreter from The New York Times.

We are here as part of an ambitious effort to protect and study polar bears in the face of numerous challenges - foremost being the tremendous change in polar bears' sea ice habitat. On our trip we will visit with members of an Arctic community with whom WWF has developed a pilot "bear patrol" program. We will hold a seminar on human-bear conflict management, and complete the planning and documentation for a protected area on the Arctic coast.

Upon landing, we are met in the airport by Julia Potemkina, a science teacher at the local high school and leader of WWF's kids clubs in the region. The school's kids and science teachers love WWF and make us all feel like celebrities during our visit! Also greeting us is Vladilen ("Vlad") Kavriy, one of WWF's main partners in polar bear conservation. Vlad has traveled from his home on the Arctic coast to accompany us over 370 miles north to our final destination - the village of Vankarem on the Chukchi Sea coast.

I t will be a long and tough journey to Vankarem across the vast frozen tundra. To make the trip we will use military tracked vehicles called vezdekhods. Vezdekhod literally means "go everywhere" and this is the only reliable way we can reach our distant location at this time of year. One of our drivers for this expedition is Igor Ostranitsa. He gives me a huge bear hug when he sees me. On my last trip, Igor had been our driver, demonstrating his exceptional navigational skills in a white-out blizzard. Fortunately for us, both Igor and our second driver Sergey have converted their vezdekhods for passenger use. Carpeted walls and a cushioned floor mute some of the engine's noise and make it possible to sit comfortably in back. There are even windows!

We split into two groups, choose our vezdekhod, and set off across the frozen bay. As the sun sinks into the violet hills, our vehicles churn for miles through deep snow. We take the occasional stop to stretch and have a snack, and try to fall asleep in between breaks.

posted by World Wildlife Fund # 6:12 AM