World Wildlife Fund

Northern Ring of Fire, Part I: Aleutians & the Bering Sea

Aboard the Clipper Odyssey

From $9,980 per person, based on double occupancy. Solo occupancy rates from $13,680.

Trip Overview

Starting in Seward, Alaska, cruise along the spectacular eastern coast of the Alaska Peninsula and into the Bering Sea. Zodiac excursions along the way showcase colonies of horned and tufted puffins, least and whiskered auklets, northern fulmars and sea eagles. You’ll see thousands of fur seals and Steller’s sea lions hauled out on scenic beaches, plus pods of orca and minke whales. Visit the world’s largest Aleut community and Russian villages in the Pribilofs and examine the relics of World War II history in the Aleutians.

This tour can be combined with Part II: Kamchatka & the Kuril Islands, which runs August 9 – 21, 2010.

Trip Itinerary

Sunday, July 25, 2010: Home / Anchorage, Alaska
Arrive independently in Anchorage and transfer to the hotel. Meet your fellow travelers and expedition staff before dinner, and spend the night at the hotel. (D)

Monday, July 26: Anchorage / Seward / Embark
After a morning at leisure and lunch at our hotel, drive to Seward to embark the Clipper Odyssey. (B,L,D)

Tuesday, July 27: Kodiak Island
Dock at the town of Kodiak, a bustling port settled by Russian fur traders in 1784. By 1792, Alexander Baranof established the town as the first capital of Russia’s North American colonies. Visit the 1794 Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox church and Erskine House, a National Historic Landmark built in 1809 and now housing the Kodiak Baranof Museum. Exhibits in the Alutiiq Museum detail the history and culture of the native people who lived here millennia before the Europeans arrived. (B,L,D)

Wednesday, July 28: Geographic Harbor, Katmai National Park and Preserve
Sail along the nearly uninhabited Alaska Peninsula, stopping to investigate pristine islands and coves. Nearly hidden at the far reaches of Amalik Bay, beautiful Geographic Harbor is surrounded by magnificent volcanic scenery. Explore the area by Zodiac, watching for brown bears along the shoreline. (B,L,D)

Thursday, July 29: Aghiyuk Island, Semidi Islands
Following a Zodiac landing to walk on a small, sandy beach covered in driftwood, trace the shores of Aghiyuk Island, home to huge colonies of seabirds, including northern fulmars, common murres, and black-legged kittiwakes. The Semidi Islands are home to an estimated 2 ½ million birds. Later, look for whales in these waters, famed for seasonal migrations, as we head toward the Shumagin Islands. (B,L,D)

Friday, July 30: Unga Island, Shumagin Islands
Anchor at Unga Island today; its multiple bays offer excellent Zodiac cruising opportunities to look for sea otters and birds, including peregrine falcons. Walk across fields of wildflowers and spongy tundra. Scattered pieces of multicolored, petrified wood are remnants of an ancient metasequoia forest, evidence that the region once enjoyed a warmer climate. (B,L,D)

Saturday, July 31: Baby Islands / Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island
Sail in the morning among the Fox Islands group of the Aleutians, watching for Minke whales, and stop at the tiny, volcanic Baby Islands, which teem with puffins and whiskered auklets. Dutch Harbor was originally used by the North American Commercial Company to process fur seal pelts. Today, it is the busiest fishing and processing port in Alaska. Stroll among World War II relics of the U.S. Army, visit the Museum of Aleutians, and view the oldest onion-domed Russian church in Alaska. (B,L,D)

Sunday, August 1: St. George Island, Pribilof Islands
North in the Bering Sea lies a tiny archipelago comprising the five Pribilof Islands. The islands were discovered in 1786 by the Russian explorer Gerassim Pribilof, who successfully located what he was hoping to find: northern fur seals by the thousands. Following decades of extensive hunting, the seal is now a protected species, with the Pribilof breeding population currently numbering more than 700,000. Bird colonies abound, too, with some 225 species recorded in the islands.

Explore the small town of St. George, whose residents include about 150 people of Aleut and Russian descent. A picturesque Russian Orthodox church commands a vista of the Bering Sea, and a cliff-top blind provides a remarkable view of a fur seal rookery. More parakeet auklets breed on St. George than anywhere else, and the nearly quarter-million nesting red-legged kittiwakes make up 98 percent of the world’s population. (B,L,D)

Monday, August 2: St. Paul Island
St. Paul is home to 800 Aleuts, the largest such community in the world. Enjoy a stroll through town, then walk among a profusion of tundra wildflowers, watching for Arctic foxes along the way. Zodiac excursions and walks to the edge of the cliffs reveal birds by the thousands, including horned and tufted puffins; red-legged kittiwakes; red-faced cormorants; and crested, least, and parakeet auklets. (B,L,D)

Tuesday, August 3: At Sea
As we sail towards the Aleutian Islands, the onboard experts will share their knowledge about the flora, fauna, and fascinating history of this region. Watch from the decks for a chance to spot the short-tailed albatross, a species classified as vulnerable but increasing in numbers in recent years. (B,L,D)

Wednesday, August 4: Adak Island, Aleutian Islands
The ship will enter the long chain of Aleutian Islands, which stretch in an arc 1,000 miles long across the Bering Sea between Kamchatka and Alaska. Each of the 124 islands is the summit of an underwater volcano and nearly all are part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, a 3.5 million-acre preserve. The refuge is home to an estimated 40 million seabirds of 55 different species.

While the Japanese invaded and occupied the far western Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska, U.S. forces built facilities on Adak Island to support efforts to retake the islands and to guard against a possible counter-offensive. In 1943, 27,000 troops were stationed in Adak. In 1997, the U.S. Navy released control of the island to the Aleut Native Corporation. Only 300 people live there today and make a living from fishing and various commercial enterprises that utilize the abandoned buildings and lengthy airstrip.

Once ashore, take your choice of WWII history or birding excursions. Time permitting, cruise in Zodiacs along the shore for wildlife viewing. Among the animals to watch for are sea otters, harbor seals, and critically endangered Kittlitz’s murrelets. (B,L,D)

Thursday, August 5: Kiska Island
Kiska Island was once the site of Japanese troop occupation in WWII. When the Americans arrived, they found that the Japanese had all been evacuated under the cover of fog; evidence of their existence remains in a 1,200 foot long pier, wooden boardwalk, and a grounded Japanese two-man submarine. History unfolds as we explore the island with our historian and naturalists.

In the afternoon, see the world’s largest nesting population of least auklets. Via Zodiacs, cruise Sirius Point, a headland created from lava flow and a special habitat for these seabirds. (B,L,D)

Friday, August 6: Attu Island
Massacre Bay on Attu is a remote outpost on this ruggedly mountainous, westernmost Aleutian island. The site of the only land battle fought on North American soil during WWII, Attu’s evocative heritage reveals rusty Quonset huts, the occasional spent cartridge shell, and other military artifacts attesting to the American occupation of the island after it was retaken from the Japanese in 1943. A nature walk reveals placid fields of wildflowers – lupines, Alaskan paintbrush, and iris among them  – carpeting the now green battlefields.

Attu is legendary among birders as a magnet for Asian bird species such as the wood sandpiper and olive-backed pipit; these birds regularly fly across the Bering Strait to make landfall on this lonely outpost. Endemic rock ptarmigans and song sparrows are present, too. (B,L,D)

Saturday & Sunday, August 7 & 8: At Sea / Cross International Date Line
Spend a relaxing day at sea. Cross the International Date Line and “lose” a day. (B,L,D)

Monday, August 9: Petropavlovsk, Russia
Upon arrival (and after clearing immigration formalities), set out on an exploration of Petropavlovsk, one of the oldest cities in the Russian Far East. Vitus Bering arrived in Kamchatka and laid the first foundation stone in 1740 in this huge and well-sheltered harbor. Visit the museum of ethnography and natural history, the gold-domed Orthodox cathedral, and the marketplace with local guides. (B,L,D)

Tuesday, August 10: Kronotskiy Biosphere Reserve
In 1934 the Soviet Union set aside this area as a reserve, which later was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the most pristine parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula and features volcanoes – some of which are still active – plus hot springs and geysers. Though not inhabited, it is still used extensively by small numbers of indigenous people. (B,L,D)

Wednesday, August 11: Petropavlovsk / Disembark: / USA
For those not continuing on Voyage II, disembark the Clipper Odyssey and transfer to the airport for your independent flights home. You’ll re-cross the International Date
Line, arriving home on the same day. (B; also L, D for travelers on Voyage II)