Mysterious and harsh Shantar islands. Tours to the Shantar Islands from the Moscow travel agency St. Astur, expedition to the Shantar Islands, Shantar Islands, travel to the Shantar Islands cost, trip to Shantar, archipelago beyond the ends of the earth How kind

A classic cruise trip, takes place on the water with landings on the islands for excursions, fishing and whale watching from Sup-boards and inflatable boats!
There are 8 people in the group and 4 crew members, captain, sailor, guide and cook! Total 12 people on board! Accommodation in cabins for 2 people! There is a hot shower and toilet on board! The cook prepares you breakfast, lunch and dinner and, of course, there are countless snacks, teas to warm you up after the sea, etc.
Suitable for those who love the sea, want something unusual, are not afraid of rocks and confined spaces, love beautiful places and want to see a lot of new things in a short time!

Tours are held from July 3 to September 2, to participate in the tours you need to submit an application, email or call. Duration of tours - from 7 to 10 days

Dates and duration of the tour:

Dates of the sea part of the tours.

1. July 3 - July 12;
2. July 11 - 19;
3. July 18 - 27;
4. August 24 - September 2.

tour 10 days - 140,000 rub.

tour 7 days - 110,000 rub.

The transfer Komsomolsk-on-Amur - Nikolay Bay - Komsomolsk-on-Amur is paid separately!
Transfer cost 20,000 rub. (Please check when booking!)

5% discount when traveling as a couple.
Personal offers for large groups.

Tour dates may change due to weather conditions
Start and finish of the sea voyage from Nikolai Bay.

Prices are per person!

What is included in the tour

Accommodation in a comfortable yacht with a hot shower and heating in each cabin (believe me, this is important there).
Meals 3 times a day + countless snacks.
The work of the cook, guides and crew.
Excursions to the whaling factory, Cape Arku, and the weather station on Bolshoi Shantar.
Whale and orca watching excursions on the water
Baths according to destinations.
Departure to rivers for fishing.
Use of boats, fuel for them
Using SUP boards.
Cooking national dishes over a fire during forays.

WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE TOUR

Diving equipment, waders, fishing rods, wetsuits (check suit information when booking) are rented for an additional fee. payment!
Insurance is paid separately: medical and travel insurance, which includes transport services (about 1500 rubles)
The transfer from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Nikolai Bay is the place where you are transferred to the yacht and your journey begins! The cost of a round trip transfer in the Urals by Motorhome or Minibus is 20,00 rubles. there is an option to go by jeep, the cost of the flight is 150,000 - 200,000 round trip, the car capacity is 4 people! The advantages of a jeep are that it shakes less and travel time is reduced!

Why such an expensive transfer?

The road is not close and not easy, rocky and off-road, it takes about a day to drive, you are accompanied by a very qualified driver who drives a Ural Autodom! Fuel, satellite communications. You drive almost like you are at home with air conditioning and 220 sockets, you can lie down, you can sit! Everything, as long as we get there SAFELY and as comfortably as those regions allow!
Food on the road is a standard set of hiking rations - noodles, cookies, canned food, cheese, sausage, bread, tea, coffee, etc.! Along the way there is one village where you can eat in a cafe yourself! If you are a vegetarian and “don’t go and drink mineral water with gas,” warn us about this!

Approximate travel route.

From Khabarovsk the group sets off on an exciting journey to distant islands.
The road to Nikolai Bay is very interesting; the path will pass through almost the entire territory of the Khabarovsk Territory. During the journey we will see the populated areas of the north of the region, cross many rivers, streams on bridges, on ferries and even ford.

1 day
At six in the morning departure from Komsomolsk-on-Amur. At 15:00 we arrive at the ferry crossing across the Amgun River, while we wait in line, have a light lunch. At about 18 o'clock we pass the Albazino mining and processing complex, at 24 o'clock we stop for the night.

Day 2
By 7 am we will reach the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. At high tide we transfer to the boat and go to the base, on the way we enjoy wild landscapes, curious fur seals, upon arrival check-in and free time, in the evening a real Russian bathhouse.

Day 3
For lovers of morning fishing,
After breakfast, departure to the seal spit to meet sea lions and bearded seals; if you are lucky and meet killer whales, we will definitely watch these beauties. After lunch, we load onto the catamaran and slowly go out to Wrangel Bay, where bowhead whales live.

4 day
Parking in the bay, whale watching, and if the weather is favorable, SUP riding.

5 day
Parking in the bay, whale watching, shore excursion, fishing for flounder, cod. In the evening we go out to the island. Big Shantar.

Day 6

In the morning we will pass Belichiy Island and admire the small arch. By lunchtime we will approach the island of Big Shantar. We will visit the remains of a whaling factory, visit a weather station, and have a bathhouse in the evening. Bonfire on the shore.

Day 7

In the morning we will visit Cape Rainbow, where jasper, a semi-precious stone, comes to the surface. At lunchtime we will pass by Utichy Island. In the evening we will arrive on Feklistov Island, optional fishing, or paddling around the bay in the company of fur seals.

Day 8
In the morning we land on Cape Arka, photo shoot, making wishes in the arch... Next, our path goes to the island of Small Shantar, where we will make a short outing and walk along the shore. In the evening we go back home.

Day 9
Arrival at Nikolai Bay, where we will be taken by boat deep into the bay, along the way there is a high probability of meeting beluga whales! In the evening, at high tide, unloading onto the shore and loading onto the car, leaving for home.

10 day
The whole day will be spent on the road, in the evening arrival in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

Our team consists of experienced yachtsmen and hunters. So the captain of the ship visited the Shantar Islands for the first time at the age of 15 and was already at that time a member of the crew and kept watch.

Shantar is a small group of islands on the outskirts of the Sea of Okhotsk.
The Shantar archipelago includes 15 large islands, many small islets, rocks and kekurs.
The climate here is even harsher than in the very north of the Sea of Okhotsk. The local tides are very impressive, reaching a height of 5-8 m with a current speed of up to 8 knots.
The inaccessibility of the Shantar Islands ensured the pristine preservation of their nature. Herds of whales feed here, seals fatten up, and killer whales lie in wait for them, countless bird colonies, bears roaming in search of food, etc.

Fishing on the islands will not leave any real fisherman indifferent. In the rivers of the islands, char, rudd, brown trout, pink salmon, Dolly Varden, and lenok are found in abundance. And it’s not even worth talking about the abundance of berries and mushrooms. There are a great many of them here.
The shores of the islands are a kind of open-air geological museum. Everywhere there are rocks painted in the most unimaginable colors: red, green, pink, white, corresponding to the outcrops of jasper, marble, malachite and other rocks.
The virgin landscapes of the islands amaze the imagination with their beauty. In summer, dozens of waterfalls cascade down from steep cliffs. The rivers and lakes are also uniquely beautiful.
Shantar was once inhabited - whalers lived here. Today, except for the workers of the weather station and, more recently, the employees of the National Park, there is no one here.

Shantar is a real paradise for photographers. Photo subjects: magnificent northern nature and unafraid wild animals, completely unafraid of humans. Here you can easily photograph bears at close range.

tel.: +79242277160 (we travel a lot, so it’s better to write by WhatsApp)

tel.: +79141768800

mail. [email protected]

Sincerely, the team of the catamaran Odyssey.

Sea of Okhotsk; Khabarovsk region. Opened in the 40s. XVII century Russian explorers; the name Shantar was first mentioned on a map of 1710. In the Nivkh language, Shantar is an island. Geographical names of the world: Toponymic dictionary. M: AST. Pospelov E.M.... ... Geographical encyclopedia

SHANTAR ISLANDS, an archipelago of 15 islands in the western part of the Sea of Okhotsk, in the Khabarovsk Territory. OK. 2500 km2. The largest islands are Bolshoy Shantar, Feklistova, Maly Shantar and Belichiy. Height up to 701 m. Forests of fir and larch. Source:... ...Russian history

An archipelago of 15 islands in the western part of the Okhotsk Sea, in the Khabarovsk Territory. OK. 2500 km². The largest islands are: B. Shantar, Feklistova, M. Shantar and Belichiy. Height up to 701 m. Forests of fir, larch... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Noun, number of synonyms: 1 archipelago (45) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary

An archipelago of 15 islands in the western part of the Sea of Okhotsk, in the Khabarovsk Territory. About 2500 km2. The largest islands are Bolshoy Shantar, Feklistova, Maly Shantar and Belichiy. Height up to 701 m. Forests of fir and larch. * * * SHANTAR ISLANDS… … encyclopedic Dictionary

An archipelago of 15 islands in the southwestern part of the Sea of Okhotsk (Khabarovsk Territory of the RSFSR). The area is about 2500 km2. The largest islands: Big Shantar (area 1790 km2), o. Feklistova (about 400 km2), Maly Shantar (about 100 km2),… … Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Primorsky region, in the Sea of Okhotsk, at the mouth of the Tugur Bay; this group includes Bolshoy Shantar, Maly Shantar (see), Prokofiev, Kusov, Belichiy, Bezymyanny, Medvezhiy, Utichy, Feklistov, Slingshot and several small ones. Total surface W.... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron

Shantar Islands- Sea of Okhotsk; Khabarovsk region. Opened in the 40s. XVII century Russian explorers; the name Shantar was first mentioned on a map of 1710. In the Nivkh language, Shantar is an island... Toponymic dictionary

Shantar Islands- in the Sea of Okhotsk. Opened in the 40s. 17th century by Russian explorers; the name Shantar is first indicated on a map of 1710. In the Nivkh language, shantar is “island” (Nikonov, 1966) ... Geographical names of the Russian Far East

This term has other meanings, see Avian. Avian ... Wikipedia

Books

, . “The birthplace of whales and airplanes”, Khabarovsk Territory is a new center of attraction for tourists in the Russian Far East. Tourists can discover unique natural attractions such as the Shantar…
Khabarovsk region. Modern guide, . `The birthplace of whales and airplanes`, Khabarovsk Territory is a new center of attraction for tourists in the Russian Far East. Tourists can discover unique natural attractions such as the Shantar…

Shantar is a small group of islands on the edge of the Sea of Okhotsk. Being very unique, they simultaneously embody all the beauties of the Sea of Okhotsk. Multi-colored rocks and wild taiga. Strong tidal currents that roar into the narrow straits between these rocks. Six-meter high tides, and extensive drying areas that open at low tides. Wandering ice and constant fog. Bears, which bred in huge numbers on the islands, and the marine population - whales, beluga whales, killer whales, seals... The harsh northern sea. The archipelago includes 15 large islands, as well as many small islets, rocks and rocks.

The climate of the Shantar Islands is even harsher than in the northernmost part of the Sea of Okhotsk. This is due to the proximity to the cold regions of Yakutia, a complex system of wind and tidal currents. The tides on the islands reach 5-8 m, and tidal currents are among the fastest in the entire world's oceans, reaching 8 knots in the Opasny Strait, Severny Strait and in the vicinity of the mainland. The entire force of the tides rushes into the straits like into a bottleneck. The straits resemble fast-flowing rivers and the sound of rushing water can be heard several kilometers away.

Only for 1.5-2 months the islands are free of ice. Even in July, icebergs float here, and already in the second half of September snow may fall. And all this despite the fact that the islands are located at the latitude of Moscow!

The inaccessibility of the islands made it possible to preserve nature in all its pristine condition. Here you can see herds of whales feeding, many seals and killer whales hunting them, countless bird colonies, bears roaming along the shore and much more. The islands have excellent fishing. The rivers are home to such species of fish as char, sesame, pink salmon, rudd, malma, and lenok. There is also a large abundance of berries and mushrooms.

Once upon a time there were people on Shantar, but now, apart from the weather station workers, no one lives on the islands. But there is an abundance of fish in the rivers and lakes, bears roam along the banks, there is noise from bird colonies, and whales, killer whales and a huge number of seals swim near the shores. The geology of the islands is also interesting. The shores are a real open-air geological museum. In many places you can see rocks painted in a variety of colors - pink, red, green, white. These are outcrops of jasper, marble and other rocks.

The Shantar Islands are not only the pearl of the Sea of Okhotsk, but also incredibly interesting for tourists and travelers from all over the world. The Shantar Archipelago is located far from populated areas: 100 km. to the west is the village of Chumikan, at the same distance to the south is an endangered village. Tugur, 400 kilometers to the North - the city of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. This explains the fact that pristine nature and fauna have been preserved on Shantar.

The peculiarity of this corner of the planet is that during the Ice Age, when most of the globe was covered with an ice shell, in the Far East, beyond the Sikhote-Alin ridge, there remained a territory in which land, sea, and with them ancient plants have remained unchanged to this day. One of these plants is brown seaweed - “Laminaria Angustata”, which grows only in the Sea of Okhotsk on the shelf zone of the Shantar Islands.

The landscapes of the islands amaze with their beauty. Summer here, although short, is very stormy. Dozens of waterfalls cascade down from the steep Shantar shores. The rivers and lakes are unique. The largest of which is Lake Bolshoye with the Olenya River flowing into it. Once upon a time, people who were engaged in whale fishing lived on Shantar, but now there is no one on the islands except the weather station workers.

The appearance of Shantar is unusually beautiful. Summer here, although short, is very stormy. There are countless rocks and rocks on the islands, dozens of waterfalls cascade from the steep Shantar shores. The rivers and lakes are unique. The largest of which is Lake Bolshoye with the Olenya River flowing into it.

The geology of the islands is also interesting. The shores are a real open-air geological museum. In many places you can see rocks painted in a variety of colors - pink, red, green, white. These are outcrops of jasper, marble and other rocks.

The Shantar archipelago consists of 15 large and small islands, as well as a large number of rocks and rocks. The largest island is Bolshoi Shantar Island - 1790 sq. km., the second largest is Feklistov Island - about 400 sq. km. km. Next come the islands of Maly Shantar and Belichiy. A closed basin has formed between the islands and the mainland, which is called the Shantar Sea.

Shantar is a paradise for photographers. The splendor of northern nature and wild animals that react completely calmly to humans. There are especially many bears here, and photographing them at close range is not difficult. If you look at them from a bird's eye view, you get the impression that some giant once threw a pile of stones and rocks into the water.

This is how these amazing, mysterious islands on the horizon appeared on the map of the Sea of Okhotsk. Frequent fogs on the islands alternate with rare but strong storms...

The Shantar Islands are an archipelago in the Sea of Okhotsk at the entrance to Udskaya Bay, Tugursky Bay and Academy Bay. Sometimes, due to frequent fogs, they are also called foggy islands. The archipelago includes 15 large islands, as well as many small islets and rocks. The total area of the archipelago is about 2.5 thousand km 2.

The islands are covered mainly with coniferous forest and grass. Many rivers and streams flow down from the mountains, forming about a hundred waterfalls ranging from 10 to 100 meters in height. The shores are a real open-air geological museum. In many places you can see rocks painted in a variety of colors - pink, red, green, white. These are outcrops of jasper, marble and other rocks.

The straits resemble fast-flowing rivers, and the sound of rushing water can be heard several kilometers away. There is even a project to build an 8 GW Tugur tidal power plant in this area.

The Shantars are inhabited by ermine, brown bear, sable, fox, and otter. Here are marked places of high concentration of migratory birds, the protection of their flight routes and resting places is provided for by a number of international conventions on the protection of migratory birds and their habitats. 240 bird species have been recorded at nesting sites and during migration periods.

The water area of the Sea of Okhotsk within the boundaries of the national park is of particular importance for the conservation of marine biological resources, including marine mammals. Several species of whales are regularly recorded here, there are numerous rookeries of pinnipeds, including sea lions, and large concentrations of sea colonial birds on the coastal cliffs.

The remote accessibility of the islands made it possible to preserve nature in all its pristine condition. According to the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Sergei Donskoy, the establishment of the Shantar Islands National Park will contribute to the preservation of unique ecosystems, as well as the development of domestic and international ecological tourism in the Far East.

The creation of the national park was carried out in accordance with the Concept for the development of a system of specially protected natural areas of federal significance for the period until 2020.

The rivers of the archipelago contain large spawning grounds for salmon fish, and the Srednyaya River, the only place on the entire coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, is home to the mykiss fish (a species listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation), the unique Shantar population of which has a limited number and needs special protection.

The average temperature in January is -20.6°C, in July +12.9°C. Water temperature ranges from -1.8°C in winter to +9-14°C in summer.

The surface of the islands is mountainous, but there are few pointed peaks. The highest point of the islands is Mount Veselaya on Bolshoy Shantar (more than 700 meters above sea level).

The Shantar Islands are an archipelago in the Sea of Okhotsk at the entrance to Udskaya Bay, Tugursky Bay and Academy Bay.

At the end of last year, by decision of the Russian government, the Shantar Islands National Park with a total area of 515,500 hectares was established on the basis of a federal nature reserve. Including the adjacent water area of the Sea of Okhotsk with an area of 274,284.08 hectares. The territory of the national park consists of 4 sections, including groups of islands of the Shantar archipelago. All sections of the national park are located in the Tuguro-Chumikansky district of the Khabarovsk Territory.

Type of travel: Extreme expedition into wild places!Helicopter flights + island hopping boat.

Why go:

There are no analogues to the Shantar archipelago in the world: it is a unique and beautiful corner of the globe.

Fantastically beautiful rocks, whales and killer whales swim in the sea among the icebergs, bears roam the shores, the rivers are full of fish. Bird markets with thousands of seabirds, seal rookeries...

We are going to escape civilization and bustle and immerse ourselves in the pristine world of wild nature.

IN In the northwestern part of the harsh Sea of Okhotsk there is a group of mysterious islands. If you look at them from a bird's eye view, you get the impression that some giant once threw a pile of stones and rocks into the water. This is how these amazing, mysterious islands on the horizon appeared on the map of the Sea of Okhotsk.

Coastal waters are cleared of ice only for 1.5-2 months. Even in July, huge icebergs float here like white swans, and already in October snow falls, although they are located at the latitude of Moscow. Frequent fogs on the islands alternate with rare but strong storms.

A special pleasure on Shantar is fishing. There is a huge variety of fish here. Pink salmon, char, kunja, lenok, rudd, as well as the rare general fish - mykiss - are found here in abundance.

Shantar Islands - a treasure trove of wild nature. The archipelago is located far from populated areas: 100 km. to the west is the village of Chumikan, at the same distance to the south is the dying village of Tugur, 400 kilometers to the north is the city of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. This explains the fact that pristine nature and fauna have been preserved on Shantar.

The Shantar Islands are a bear paradise, where clumsy bears live in freedom, because hunting them is prohibited here. But it is also a paradise for a geologist: along the shores of the islands, rocks painted in the most unexpected colors are located in a picturesque disorder: pink, red, green, white...
This is not a joke of nature, but layers of jasper, marble and other rocks coming to the surface.
The word “Shantar” translated from the language of the Nivkh people means “island”, and it is precisely this that is included in the name invented by the discoverers of the archipelago.

The Shantar archipelago consists of one and a half dozen islands of various sizes, clustered near the mainland in the Sea of Okhotsk. The islands are located right at the entrance to Udskaya Bay, Tugur Bay and Academy Bay and are separated from the mainland by the Lindholm Strait and the Shantar Sea.
The relief of the islands is very uneven and mountainous. Between the mountains there were valleys of small rivers, and in the lowlands along the banks of the rivers there were swamps: there was simply nowhere for water to seep, under a small layer of soil there were hard rocks and granite.

The shores of the islands are high and rocky, plunging steeply into the sea. The sea around the islands is full of huge underwater rocks that pose a great danger to ships. It’s as if nature deliberately took care to make the islands as inaccessible as possible: there are no convenient harbors here, with the exception of Yakshin Bay on Bolshoi Shantar and Lebyazhya Bay on Fekpistov Island.
Sailing in the area of the Shantar archipelago is dangerous; ships that do not have radars are not recommended to sail here. The speed of currents in these parts can reach eight knots, that is, about 15 km/h.
From October to June, the Udskaya Bay is covered with ice, the water around the Shantar Islands freezes, and they practically merge with the mainland for most of the year.
The islands of Maly Shantar and Belichiy are separated by a narrow strait; navigation here is risky, for which the strait is called Dangerous.
The indigenous Nivkh people were the first to begin to develop the islands. Since there are relatively few islands in this place off the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, the Nivkhs called them “shantar”, which translated from their language simply means “island”.
In 1639, the Cossacks of Ivan Moskvitin, Vasily Poyarkov and Ivan Nagiba reached the islands.
They used a word from the Nivkh language, calling them Shantar, that is, “island islands.” However, for the first time the name Shantar appeared on a geographical map compiled in 1710. Since the islands have not only commercial value, but also border value, Emperor Peter II in 1728 ordered: “Russian and foreign hunters should be released to the Shantar Islands for fishing, so that they we were reliably informed what kind of peoples live on those islands.”
The names of geographical features on the islands were given by local hunters and fishermen and reflect the appearance of the object: on Feklistov Island - Cape Rogaty, Pokaty, Bely, Primetnaya Skala, Krasny, on Maly Shantar Island - Cape Gorbaty. And Sugar Loaf Island received its name for its obvious similarity to the mentioned product. The rich fauna of the archipelago is captured in the names of the islands Belichiy, Medvezhy, Bird, Utichiy and Sivuchi Kameni.

There has never been a permanent population on the islands: even a hermit finds it difficult to survive here. For a long time, hunters and fishermen came to the islands from the mainland and returned with their catch and wild animals. True, in 1830-1831. The Americans created a company that settled on Big Shantar, but soon the settlement was abandoned and people returned to the mainland: the income from the fisheries turned out to be negligible compared to the costs of maintaining the winter hut.
The Shantar Islands are an archipelago of 15 islands in the western part of the Sea of Okhotsk. The largest islands are Bolshoy Shantar, Feklistova, Maly Shantar and Belichiy. The Shantar Islands are officially part of the Far North regions (the part of Russian territory located mainly north of the Arctic Circle), but are at the same latitude as Moscow.
There are a lot of birds on the Shantar Islands; there is an incessant noise from the bird colonies. In 2013, a reserve was created here to protect the island fauna.
The nature of the Shantar Islands is not much different from that on the mainland, across the strait: the same dark coniferous forests of fir and Siberian spruce, the same Gmelin larches on the slopes of the mountains, and on the peaks there are thickets of dwarf cedar.

The region of the Shantar Islands is a difficult place to survive: there are constant typhoons and fogs, and there are bitter frosts most of the year.
In the area of the Shantar Islands there are constant fogs that do not dissipate even with strong winds due to the cold water. The reason is that this is the frozen region of the Sea of Okhotsk: a chilly northeast wind blows and ice clogs the straits between the islands.
The tidal currents around the Shantar Islands are among the fastest in the World Ocean. They rush forcefully into the interisland straits, reminiscent of stormy rivers, and then the roar of rushing water can be heard several kilometers away.
The local harsh nature is diversified by many rivers and streams, forming about a hundred waterfalls with a height of 10 to 100 m.
Despite the difficult climatic conditions, these lands are distinguished by a richness of flora and fauna. Dozens of rare species of plants and animals are found here. There are more than two hundred species of birds alone in the archipelago, of which eleven species are marine, and most of all are the colonial nesting (bazaar) guillemots, hatchet, mosswort, cormorants and various types of gulls.

On the islands there are large rookeries of pinnipeds: Steller sea lion, sealed seal, sealed seal, and akiba. In the coastal waters there are a lot of mykiss, kuzha, chum salmon, smelt, char, pink salmon, rudd, malma and lenka.
In addition, the Shantar Islands are home to many species of mammals, especially predators: brown bear, wolf, common fox, raccoon dog, wolverine, otter, ermine, weasel, sable. There is no shortage of food here: there is enough poultry and fish to feed you all year round.
Now there is no permanent population on the islands, except for a few workers at the weather station on the northeastern shore of Yakshina Bay on Bolshoi Shantar Island.
In some places on the islands you can still find evidence of the whaling industry that flourished here - rusty equipment and the remains of primitive lard factories.
Closest to the islands is the village of Chumikan - a port in the Udskaya Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk, at the mouth of the Uda River, and the administrative center of the Tuguro-Chumikan region.
Considering the special value of the Shantar Islands region, the entire archipelago, together with its water area, was included in the state nature reserve of federal significance “Shantar Islands” in 1999 with an area of 515.5 thousand hectares.

Location: Sea of Okhotsk, Pacific Ocean.
Islands: Bolshoi Shantar, Feklistova, Maly Shantar, Belichiy, Bear, Bird, Utichiy, Sugarloaf, Kusova, Prokofieva, Sivuchi Kameni, Sukhotina, Northern, Middle, Southern and Diomede Stones.
Origin: continental.
Administrative affiliation: Tuguro-Chumikansky district, Khabarovsk Territory, Russian Federation.
Where is it and how to get there:
The nearest settlements (all on the mainland, belong to the Tuguro-Chumikansky district): Chumikan village - 1147 people. (2011), Tugur village - 387 people. (2011).

Languages: Russian, Evenki.
Ethnic composition: Evenks, Russians.

Religions: Orthodoxy, shamanism.
Large rivers: Olenya, Srednyaya, Bolshoi Anaur, Yakshina (all - Bolshoi Shantar).
Large lakes: Karpino, Bolshoy and Maly Omokoy (Big Shantar), Lisye (Feklistova).
Currency: Russian ruble.
Nearest international airport: Novy Airport in Khabarovsk.

Area: about 2500 km2 (Bolshoi Shantar - 1766 km2, Feklistova - 372 km2, Small Shantar - about 100 km2, Belichiy - about 70 km2, others - Medvezhiy, Bird, Utichy, Sugarloaf, Kusova, Prokofieva, Sivuchi Kameni, Sukhotina, Northern, Middle, Southern and Diomede Stones - 192 km2).
Tides: irregular, semidiurnal, up to 10 m high.
Average altitude above sea level: about 100-200 m.
Highest point: Mount Veselaya (Bolshoi Shantar, 720 m).

Economy
Marine fishing.
Services: tourism, transport, trade.

Attractions

■ Natural: Cape Bely (Feklistova Island, marble rocks), Red Cape (Feklistova, jasper rocks), Olenya River, steep coastal cliffs (Prokofiev Island), Stone Lion rock (Bolshoy Shantar), rock “with a hole” (Maly Shantar), kekurs (Utichiy), bird colonies, marine mammal rookeries. Shantar Islands National Park.
■ Other: weather station (Bolshoi Shantar), abandoned American lard plant (Bolshoi Shantar), old cemetery (Bolshoi Shantar).

Curious facts

■ Suloy is a surge of water on the sea surface, which occurs, in particular, with a sharp decrease in the speed of the tidal current, as well as with the collision of multidirectional flows or with strong winds directed against the current. The water surface in the suloi zone looks like gurgling and boiling water. Most often, suloi are observed in straits and river mouths. In the area of the Shantar Islands, the suloi reaches a height of 3-4 m and poses a danger to small ships.
■ Thirty species of birds living on the Shantar Islands are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
■ Lindholm Strait was named after the Finn Otto Lindholm, a major entrepreneur who was at the origins of whaling in the Far East in the mid-19th century.
■ The name “Shantar Sea” was first used by whalers in the 19th century. Today this name is preserved on old topographic maps. It was mentioned on nautical charts and sailing directions until the middle of the 20th century, and then disappeared, as well as from new topographic maps. The reasons for cartographers’ refusal of this name are not at all ideological: the insignificant – in the opinion of cartographers – size of the “sea” and the fact that it was originally called a lip (bay).
■ Kusova Island was discovered in 1829 by the Russian hydrographer P.T. Kozmin and named after the director of the Russian-American company N.I. Kusova.
■ The Shantar Islands are an area of the strongest geomagnetic anomaly, causing the compass needle to continuously spin clockwise.
■ The Srednyaya River on Bolshoy Shantar is the only place on the entire coast of the Sea of Okhotsk where mykiss, or rainbow trout, lives, a species listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
■ In the Sea of Okhotsk, on the shelf exclusively in the area of the Shantar Islands, the endemic brown seaweed Laminaria Angustata will grow. This marine organism is used in the food industry and medicine.

GENERAL INFORMATION
The Shantar Islands are an archipelago belonging to Russia in the Sea of Okhotsk at the entrance to Udskaya Bay, Tugur Bay and Academy Bay, separated from the mainland by the Shantar Sea and the Lindholm Strait, administratively part of the Tuguro-Chumikansky district of the Khabarovsk Territory. The name probably comes from the Nivkh “ch’and” - “to be white.”

The discovery of the Shantar Islands is attributed to Vasily Poyarkov and dates back to 1645. The first inventory and topographic survey of the islands, on behalf of the Russian-American Company, was carried out by Prokofy Kozmin in 1830-1831. The first scientific research was carried out by the Russian travel scientist Alexander Middendorf, who visited the islands in August 1844. In July 1910, the Amur Governor-General P.F. Unterberger visited the islands. It was he who determined that the Shantar Sea (Shantar Bay, Ulbansky and Tugursky bays) is internal and foreign whalers are not allowed to enter there.

Includes 15 islands: Bolshoy Shantar (the island crosses the Stalin Range), Feklistova, Maly Shantar, Belichiy, Bear, Bird, Utichiy, Sugar Loaf, Kusova, Prokofieva, Sivuchi Kameni, Sukhotina, Northern, Sredniy, Yuzhny and Diomede Stones. The total area of the archipelago is about 2.5 thousand km².

The landscape of the islands is mountainous, the maximum height is 720 m, according to other sources, 701 m (Mount Veselaya on Bolshoi Shantar).

The Shantar Islands belong to the Far North.
In 1830-1831 On the island of Big Shantar, the Russian-American company founded a settlement, but it was abandoned because the fisheries were insignificant.

In 1926, a settlement (island economy) appeared on the island of Bolshoi Shantar, which was located successively in the systems of Dalgostorg (since 1926), Joint-Stock Kamchatka Company (AKO) since 1928, Soyuzpushnina Dalverochemical Plant (since 1932) and Ayano-Okhotsk fishery Trust of the People's Commissariat for Food Industry. Since 1934 - as part of the Chumikan Village Council, in 1956 - with. Shantar of the Shantar Village Council (Bolshoy Shantar settlement, Northern Cape). April 25, 1968 - the village council was abolished.

Vegetation
Large islands are covered with larch and dark coniferous forests, in which Ayan spruce, Daurian larch, dwarf cedar, and birch grow. There are thickets of dwarf cedar.

The first collection of plants (130 species) was collected by Alexander Middendorf in 1844, and was processed by taxonomist botanist Karl Meyer and botanist-naturalist Rudolf Trautfetter. The second collection was held in 1924-1926. scientific and fishing expedition of Dalryba and Dalgostorg (compiled by: A. D. Baturin - head of the expedition, zoologist G. D. Dulkeit - assistant to the head of the expedition, I. M. Goncharov). In 1927, a hydrobiological expedition of the Pacific Scientific and Fishery Station (TIRH) consisting of G.I. Zaks, A.G. Kuznetsov and A.P. Vvedensky worked, collecting herbarium material, including a herbarium of algae.

In 1907-1908, in 1911-1912. There was a forest management expedition of the Ministry of Land Management and Agriculture of the Russian Empire, headed by the vice-inspector of the Forester Corps O. V. Markgraf (zoological and soil collections).

In 1928, the Pacific Scientific and Fishery Station summarized materials on the vegetation cover of the islands, author. I.K. Shishkin. He divided the vegetation cover into groups: 1. spruce forests; 2. larch forests; 3. moss swamps; 4. thickets of herbaceous vegetation; 5. urema along river banks; 6. vegetation of rocks and outcrops; 7. vegetation of the sea coast; 8. Thickets of dwarf cedar. List of 227 plant species.

In 1947-1959. - Khabarovsk botanist A.P. Nechaev worked.

In 1970, an expedition of the forest department of the Biological and Soil Institute of the Far Eastern Scientific Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

In 1986, the Amur branch of the Russian Geographical Society organized a comprehensive expedition to study the ecosystem of the archipelago.

In 1999, the islands were visited by botanist L. A. Antonova.

Animal world

In the 19th century, researchers rarely visited the Shantar Islands due to their inaccessibility and remoteness from the main sea routes. The first description of the birds found on the islands was compiled by the Russian traveler A. F. Middendorf in 1851, based on a trip in 1844. At the beginning of the 20th century, during two years of work on the islands (in 1924-1926), zoologist G. D. Dulkeit described 214 species of animals. The results of his work formed the basis of the first list of birds, which he compiled together with the Soviet ornithologist L. M. Shulpin. The list included 172 species of birds. Soviet ornithologist V.D. Yakhontov in the second half of the 20th century expanded the list to 205 species. Having worked on the archipelago on expeditions in 1971, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1991 and 1992, G. E. Roslyakov completed the work begun by his fellow ornithologists.

In 1928, a hydrological and hydrobiological expedition of the State Hydrological Institute worked, and in 1930-1931. — an expedition of the Joint-Stock Kamchatka Company (AKO) and the Amurrybaksoyuz to study the prospects of marine hunting.

Since 1935, the main direction of the island economy was defined as fur farming, the main object of which is sable bred in the wild (by 1936 the sable herd reached 1500-1600 heads).

The large islands are home to many mammalian predators: brown bear, wolf, common fox, raccoon dog, wolverine, otter, ermine, weasel, sable.

There are 11 species of seabirds in the archipelago. The most numerous species is the spectacled guillemot. The number of individuals and the number of bird colonies varies significantly from year to year. Scientists have noted that in 1971, 1978 and 1982, the number of these birds nesting on the archipelago reached 18,000–20,000 pairs. The largest colonies numbering 7,000 and 3,000 pairs were located on the islands of Utichye and Ptichye. At the same time, in 1991-1992, 17,500 pairs nested on Utichye alone.

In 1999, the Shantar Islands and their water area were included in the State Natural Reserve of federal significance of the same name. In 2013, by decree of the Russian Government, the Shantar Islands National Park was established with a total area of 515,500 hectares, including the adjacent water area of the Sea of Okhotsk with an area of 274,284.08 hectares. The territory of the national park consists of 4 sections, including groups of islands of the Shantar archipelago. All sections of the national park are located in the Tuguro-Chumikansky district of the Khabarovsk Territory.

The waters around these offshore islands are frozen for about eight months in an average year, so they merge with the mainland for most of the year.

Climate
The climate is moderate monsoon, with subarctic features in temperature. In winter, in the rear of the Okhotsk cyclones, cold air is carried out from Siberia. In summer the cooling influence of the sea is felt.

BIG SHANTAR ISLAND
Big Shantar is the largest island of the Shantar archipelago. Since 1999, together with other islands of the archipelago, it has been part of the Shantar Islands State Nature Reserve. Since 2013, it has been part of the Shantar Islands National Park, established by decree of the Government of the Russian Federation.
There is a hydrometeorological station on the north-eastern shore of Yakshina Bay.
Area - 1766 sq. km. The length of the island from north to south is 65 km, from west to east along the 55th parallel - about 47 km. The northern tip of the island is Cape Severny, the southern tip is Cape Philip, the western tip is Cape Raduzhny, and the eastern tip is Cape North-East.
In the northeastern part of the island there is Lake Bolshoye, connected to the sea by a narrow strait. The Olenya River and its tributary Sredny flow into the lake. The Yakshina Bay juts deep into the southwestern coast of the island, into which two large rivers flow: Bolshoy Anaur and Yakshina. The lip partially dries out during low tide.
The highest point of the island is Mount Vesyolaya with a height of 720 m, according to other sources 701 m. Other peaks: Mt. Anaur (637 m), Mt. Sukhaya (586 m), Mt. Amuka (565 m), Mt. Philippa (532 m) .
Most of the island is covered with coniferous forest, the basis of which is spruce and larch. In the southern part there are birch and alder. There are two species of smallmouth smelt in Lake Bolshoye: sea smallmouth (Hypomesus japonicus) and river smallmouth (H. olidus).
The island is mentioned in the computer game Grand Theft Auto IV as the location of the headquarters of the fictional Shitster program.
During Soviet times, a military unit was located on the island.
In 2016, about 2 thousand metal barrels and several pieces of equipment that were subject to disposal were discovered. In 2017, the island is being cleaned of large metal debris. The work is being carried out by the environmental unit of the Eastern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces.

Diomede stones
At a distance of about 2.5 km south of Cape Phillip is the island (rock) Diomede Stones

Feklistov Island is the second largest island of the Shantar archipelago. It is located west of Big Shantar and separated from it by the Northern Strait. The area of the island is 372 square meters. km. The length of the island is about 40 km, the highest point is 485 m (Povorotnaya town). Most of the island is covered with taiga. In the northern part of the island there is Lake Lissie, into which the river of the same name flows. The Lebyazhya Bay with the bays of Rosset, Sobolev and the Enegelm roadstead juts into the southern coast of the island.

A placer occurrence of platinum group metals was discovered on the island.

Sukhotin Island
Sukhotina Island is located at the entrance to Lebyazhya Bay at a distance of about 800 m from Feklistov Island and is separated from it by the Uzkiy Strait. Sukhotin Island was described in 1885 during the hydrological expedition of the Abrek clipper and, according to some sources, named in honor of I.V. Sukhotin.

The islands of Feklistov and Sukhotin are part of the State Nature Reserve of federal significance “Shantar Islands”.

NATIONAL PARK
Shantar Islands National Park is a national park in Russia, established on December 30, 2013 with the aim of preserving unique natural complexes on the Shantar Islands in the Sea of Okhotsk. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia, a branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Reserved Amur Region”.
The director of the national park is Ivan Anatolyevich Nasonov.

The national park is located in the eastern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, administratively part of the Khabarovsk Territory. The total area of the park is 5155 km², including forest lands in the Tuguro-Chumikansky district - 2412 km², water fund lands - 2743 km² in the Sea of Okhotsk.
The island and the surrounding waters could not receive this status for more than 40 years.
According to Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Boris Voronov, the first attempts to organize a reserve in this area date back to 1975. In 1999, Resolution No. 249 was adopted on the organization of the Shantar Islands natural state reserve. Then, over the course of 15 years, work was carried out on the creation of a national park, in which scientists, public organizations and environmentalists took an active part. However, the damage from the activities of poachers in the region is still felt. According to ornithologist Vladimir Pronkevich, even modern tourists “do not disdain” poaching.

The Shantar Islands have been included in government plans for the development of a system of specially protected natural areas of federal significance since 2001.
The chairman of the public committee “Saving the Shantar Islands” (Khabarovsk) at VOOPIiK Gennady Basyuk wrote three letters to V.V. Putin in 2011, expressing concern for the fate of Shantar. In them, he spoke about the need to resolve the issue of protecting Russia’s water borders, about the power protection of the Shantar Islands and the entire Sea of Okhotsk. In January 2013, he urgently convened a press conference, declaring that part of the territory had been encumbered; more precisely, the land of the largest island of the archipelago - Big Shantar - was leased from a private structure and its term was expiring; the territory was put up for lease renewal. After the press conference, the lease was not renewed, and a national park appeared the same year.

As of the summer of 2014, the national park exists “only on paper”, but soon rangers and scientists should appear on the islands, it is planned to repair and put into operation the runway, and over time, ecological trails should appear. The number of employees of the national park will be about 30 people.
In October 2016, a group of scientists went to the islands for the first time since the establishment of the national park.
In the same year, a working expedition of specialists from the environmental service of the logistics headquarters of the Eastern Military District and the regional environmental center was sent to the islands, and the volume of work to clean up the territory was assessed. Cleaning of large metal debris from Big Shantar Island is planned for 2017. As of January 18, 2017, the staff of the environmental platoon of the Eastern Military District was formed, and a map of cleaning the territory was prepared. In the fall of 2017, 12 containers with equipment for processing metal waste directly on site (metal cutting and pressing) will be delivered to the island. In total, about 2 thousand metal barrels and several pieces of equipment that were to be disposed of were found on the island.
Starting in the summer of 2017, cruise routes with calls at the national park are planned. The use of water transport (versus air transport) should significantly reduce the cost of the transport component of the excursion tour.

Meaning
The unique island ecosystems of the Sea of Okhotsk are a combination of natural complexes of northern taiga and mountain tundra with elements of original flora. On the islands there are rare species of animals and plants listed in the Red Books of the Russian Federation and the Khabarovsk Territory, there are rookeries for pinnipeds, and the river Srednyaya on Bolshoi Shantar Island is home to the mykiss fish - a unique Shantar population of this species listed in the Red Book of Russia.
Large islands are covered with larch and dark coniferous forests, in which Siberian spruce, Gmelin larch, dwarf cedar, and birch grow. There are thickets of dwarf cedar.
The large islands are home to many mammalian predators: brown bear, wolf, common fox, raccoon dog, wolverine, otter, ermine, weasel, sable.
There are 11 species of seabirds in the archipelago. The most numerous species is the spectacled guillemot. The number of individuals and the number of bird colonies varies significantly from year to year. Scientists noted that in 1971, 1978 and 1982 the number of these birds nesting on the archipelago reached 18,000–20,000 pairs. The largest colonies numbering 7,000 and 3,000 pairs were located on the islands of Utichye and Ptichye. At the same time, in 1991-1992, 17,500 pairs nested on Utichye alone.
In the water area you can see bowhead whales approaching quite close to the shores of the islands

TRIP TO THE SHANTAR ISLANDS
In our case, we first had to fly by plane for 8 hours, then travel by bus for 14 hours along the roads of the Khabarovsk Territory (in some places along very broken and washed out roads), and then, in the event of helicopter flight weather (and we were waiting for such weather 9 hours), fly by helicopter for 1.5 hours... and here we are on the Shantar Islands, islands that are scattered in the Sea of Okhotsk. We will visit several islands, but for now the helicopter took us to the largest island, which is called Big Shantar.

I know there are edges.....

I know there are edges - go around, look, try
There is such earth, there is such grass,
And there are no traces of forests like in those places, brother.
There in the lakes the water is like God's dew,
There the stars sparkle like diamonds and fall into the mountains.
I would go there if only I could get a ticket...

The Shantar Islands are the dream of those who are attracted by wild nature and harsh conditions (there is a short summer, there is ice in July, and in September the sea is covered with ice again). There is often fog here, in some places there are “crowds” of mosquitoes and midges, and very large ebb and flow tides. There are fantastically beautiful bays and rocks here. Seals, killer whales, and whales swim in the sea among the icebergs. Bears, foxes, and deer roam the banks, there is a hubbub from bird colonies, and the rivers are full of fish. There are amazing animals here that are not afraid of people, and sometimes even smile when they meet.

True, at night you don’t want them to be afraid of you, and you don’t want them to walk around the tent. Therefore, sometimes I had to be on duty at the post and “shoot back.” I don’t look very good here, after all, I’ve been on my feet all night without spamming.
Once I fell asleep at the “post” and this is what I found next to my slippers in the morning... Well, Misha didn’t take his shoes, the size didn’t fit.
The journey around the islands itself takes place on boats, in which you can comfortably spread out, and if you are tired of looking out for killer whales and seals, you can take a sweet nap. For example, like this:
And of course, you need to experience extreme sports! What kind of adventure is this if there is no extreme sports? This is how, for example, we “ran away” from killer whales. We looked for them in the distance, and in some amazing way they moved right under our boat...

From Khabarovsk to Briakan (from where we have a helicopter transfer to Bolshoi Shantar) 14 hours by bus. Along broken Far Eastern roads: somewhere on asphalt, somewhere on a dirt road, in some places the road is washed out. At 6 am we arrived at the heliport in Briakane. And the first helicopter, in flying weather, takes off at 9-10 in the morning. There is a small Hilton hotel here (by the way, we went here on a 5-star bus). It’s still very early and the Hilton is busy - crests are sleeping here now (they came purely for fishing, they go to Shantary every year).
They were supposed to take off yesterday, but the weather was not good for flying, it was raining, and they were stuck here. We whiled away the time in the gazebo. Soon the crests stood up and time passed unnoticed - with lard, vodka, and conversations...

In the morning the helicopter did not fly away, it was foggy, but at lunchtime they sent the crests to the island and finally we took off at 6 pm. 1.5 hours of flight - and we are on Big Shantar! We disembarked promptly, and the group immediately loaded up for departure from Shantar. Vertak lands right on the shore. In the evening on the shore - “TsU” how to behave in the wild and when meeting a bear (which is very likely here)!

At night a bear came. Or rather, in the morning. The crests (our friends) are camping nearby, across the river (and when the tide is low, it is not a river, but a small stream, and you can walk to the Ukrainians across the “river”). So early in the morning (it was still dark) they shout “Muscovites, the bear is coming!”, and the second voice adds “with our lard”! Bears may not be very scary for people now (there are a lot of fish and berries), but they can tear up boats, and boats are our EVERYTHING. So the crests continue to shout “the bear is 70 meters from the boat”, and immediately followed by another voice “no, 30 meters”! The guide Vova jumped out in what he slept in (he only put on a vest with ammunition) with a gun and a rocket launcher to scare away the bear. He drove for about 30 minutes - and he shot and said in a rude voice “get out of here, get out”! It’s creepy that he’s so close and I had to scare him for so long. In the morning it turned out that he had snatched half a loaf of sausage from us and grabbed the butter with his paw.
In the morning the weather is excellent, seals are swimming - but somehow far away. No wind, not sunny. Today we explore the shore where the camp is located - we walked along the shore - beautiful rocks, a cliff. The fog stretches in and out. The first time we went out to sea - we swam to fresh water - on a boat for about 30 minutes along the water to the waterfall.

In the morning we break camp and drive along the island. A little over an hour - and we are at the weather station. It is here that the only people on all the Shantar Islands live - only 4 people of the population. And these four people keep records of weather, precipitation, transmit data, etc.
Not far from here there was once a mini factory for processing whale oil; the fat was processed into oil. Now everything has been torn apart piece by piece, the frames that remain have naturally rusted. While we were walking around the weather station (and we only walked for a couple of hours), the water went down a lot and the boats were stranded. What to do, then, we rest for three hours, wait for the tide - eat, walk, sleep, read newspapers, do crossword puzzles.
Well, our fishermen (three Khabarovsk residents) went fishing (they returned with their catch - pink salmon). Anatoly Dmitriech came - a local aborigine, a celebrity. He has lived on the island for a long time; he once hunted sables, but he still lives on the island. He lived alone and now lives at a weather station.
Around five the water came. We load up and head to Topaznaya Bay. There is also fresh water here - the Topaznaya River.

The place is wonderful. There is enough space on the shore for tents, there is a place to walk along the shore, and there is a nice river nearby.
We sail to the Utichy Islands. It’s sunny on the shore, but in the sea it’s cooler in any case, and closer to Utichy there’s also fog. The islands are in thick fog and almost nothing is visible. They say that a small plane once crashed here (these islands had not yet been mapped).
We returned to our bay through the fog. But in our bay it’s sunny and joyful!
The guys built a shower room, so today we’ll wash ourselves! We also swam in the sea, it burns, but is tolerable. We took a walk through the forest. We found the remains of a house (lower masonry) and a rusty fire extinguisher. It’s crazy, and this is who cut down the hut in the forest and equipped it. And this is quite a distance into the island (20 minutes walk) and there are mosquitoes here!!!
In the evening, our fishermen went to sea and pleased us with sea gobies.
At night a bear came. In the morning we understood, because the barrel of food was overturned and the sausage and cheese were scattered on the sand (in the following days, all the most valuable food was hung on a tree), and then we saw footprints on the beach.

We are standing in the same bay. We were supposed to go to Feklistov, but there was wind, so we are waiting for the weather. We climbed the cape. The fog cleared, and the view of the bay and the camp opened up. The climb takes about an hour, somewhere there is a path, somewhere along the spruce branches we walk.
The guys made a camp sauna - a real one. They heated the stones, lined the floor with juniper branches, and covered them with an awning - a real steam room (in the photo behind me). And the smell!!! And from the steam room - dive into the scorching Sea of Okhotsk! Beauty!
At night they decided to watch for the bear. We set the alarm for 4.30 (it gets light at five, so we can see it at dawn). In the morning we got up and waited, but he didn’t come...

And in the morning we still saw his footprints on the beach! It turns out that he came into the darkness. Anyway. We'll watch for him anyway...

The day before the weather was given for departure - the wind was decreasing. We go to Feklistov Island (the second largest, after Big Shantar), to Swan Bay. The walk is about 50 km, which is 4-5 hours by sea. There is little fog. We load up, take our seats... and it starts to rain! It’s not a downpour, but it pours in from above, from the sky, and from the sides, from the sea. But it soon passed. We had a snack on board.
It took exactly 4 hours to get to Feklistov. Big bay. And how many mosquitoes! There is a hut (winter hut) above the shore. Of course, abandoned, and of course, walked by a bear. The shore is covered with flowers.
There is a river - and our fishermen immediately went fishing. Let's dry ourselves. Someone went for a walk along the shore, someone is sitting on the shore, someone is helping in the kitchen.
Some people got wet and cold - not everyone received detailed information on equipment, and in general on the specifics of the trip. Which is why they sometimes froze. But a 5-liter bottle (don’t think it’s water!) and a can of stew saved me from all sorts of colds!

We are leaving for Bird Island. We get up at 8 am, have breakfast, and set sail at 11. The sail is about 5 hours. It's a little foggy, and sometimes it starts to drizzle. P.S. our fishermen are fishing again in the morning and, of course, again with fish! We went out on the natural Arch and examined the small caves nearby.
The weather is good - no waves, sun in fog. Snack on board. And here it is, Bird Island! The shore is littered with driftwood, and beautiful boulders line the shore. And the most beautiful decoration of the bay is the snowfield!
The island is small - 2.5 km long and 1.5 km wide. Before the fog settled, we went up the snowfield (again, you can’t walk far - bears!), There are traces (or rather waste) of a bear. True, they say, most likely last year (question - did he swim away from the island??). But still, since the island is small, and the only source of fresh water is the snowfield, if there is a bear on the island, it will definitely come here... which means you have to be careful. The fog is creeping in and gradually covering the island and us...
What’s good is that there are no mosquitoes here at all (which tormented us on Feklistov Island).

At night, someone small wandered not far from the tent, pebbles rustled... But it seemed to me that it was a huge bear walking right next to my tent. Overall, I was scared...
Morning. Birds-birds-birds (Bird Island). There are large colonies of spectacled guillemot on the island. Nebula across the island. We are going to the mainland. The weather is pleasant, with a slightly cool breeze. We are sailing to Ongachan.
We floated out around 12 noon, a couple of hours later ice appeared - separately floating pieces, some taking on bizarre shapes.
On the way we meet surprised seals (probably we have never seen people).
And then we hit an ice field. They walked around it with extreme caution.

And suddenly there are killer whales ahead! The fins rise above the water. While we were looking for them ahead (they had gone under the water), we stopped the boat. And suddenly, somehow magically, they appeared under our boat! Imagine all the horror! (it costs her nothing to turn the boat over). One of them began to rise immediately behind the stern. Sergei (the captain of our boat) took off sharply (the boat almost took off above the water). The feeling, of course, is indescribable! Such an emotional outburst! Seeing killer whales so close!
Killer whales are the largest of the dolphins. Their mass can reach up to 9 tons. They are called killer whales; the ancient Romans called them orcs, which means demons. In the diver's reference guide it is written about them that if you are attacked by a killer whale, then everything is already predetermined for you, there is no salvation. Here is a video of what can happen to those who did not have time to “hide” from killer whales.

We sail to Ongachan Bay. The view is cosmic - ice floes are floating in the fog, the shore is littered with dry forest.
And the bay itself is sunny and joyful! That's where heaven is! The river is nearby, the sun is shining, there are no mosquitoes. Our old Ukrainian friends (fishermen) are standing here. We set up tents, ran to the lake to swim (it seemed that the lake was very, very close), we forgot about safety. The beauty of the place relaxed us.
As a result, we did not reach the lake - we were stopped by a bear that appeared right in front of us on the path... We turned around and ran to our own! So we swam in the river next to the camp.
Soon we hear “bear”, “bear”! And where we recently swam there was a bear wandering around. A general photo hunt has begun.
We must give the bear his due, he didn’t mind being photographed at all, and then, when everyone was tired of taking pictures of him, they couldn’t drive him away from the camp for a long time - they shot (scared him away), and he walked in circles, didn’t want to go to his place, and demanded attention.

And on the shore, by the sea, it’s beautiful. Fog, floating ice, silence. And in the silence you can sometimes hear the ice floes colliding and moving apart again...
A red-haired fox is walking along the shore. A little skinny, but the tail is as expected - gorgeous. She walked along the river - here the crests fed her fish. And she allowed herself to be photographed.
And a whale also swam. The people heard his “breathing” and ran ashore, but they only saw his back. Floated away.

In the evening, the Ukrainian camp treated us to salmon, watermelon, and alcohol (they are flying home tomorrow). Over a good snack and drink, the Russian soul turned around and sang songs under the stars half the night...

We reached Cape Zaretsky. We spend the night in Ulbansky Bay. Along the way we go through the ice. Fog and ice. There are seals here and there on the ice floes. We landed and set up camp. There is a river and silence...

In the morning we set off and in the afternoon we arrive at the Syran River. (a helicopter will pick us up from here). We arrived in high water and were in a special hurry to make it easier to get ashore. The banks were heavily washed away and it was impossible not to get stuck in the clay... This is the kind of extreme experience we got when we got out to the bank of the Syran River.
And the view of the river from above is beautiful.
This is a favorite place for beluga whales (they come here for fish). Only the back of the beluga whale was photographed. And in the photo there is an island - a traveler. With the tide, he floats in one direction, with the ebb, in the other. So we saw it a couple of times a day - it swims back and forth.
Here we stand for 2 days. We are waiting for the helicopter. Since it’s a swampy place, there are as many mosquitoes as there can be in the air.. It’s still hot (okay, the breeze blows sometimes and drives away the mosquitoes for a couple of minutes). There is nowhere to go - swamps and swamps all around.
We set up a washing room. Not everyone wanted to wash in the swamp at first, but there was no choice. The fact is that there is no other water. The water in the Syran River is muddy and muddy. The guys went out on a boat and looked for a source of water further along the river. They brought it. The color turned out to be the same as in the Syran River. So on the second day, even the most persistent (with a persistent aversion to swamp water) could not stand the heat, sweat, mosquitoes, and doused themselves with refreshing water behind the screen.
You won’t find anything else to do here, so we just sit all day. The only thing is that we had fun once. We saw a bear chasing an elk (though it’s far away, it’s hard to see). But it’s good for the fishermen - they go on a boat to the river for the whole day. And, of course, they come with a catch!
We are looking forward to the helicopter. We were a little worried this morning. The sky was overcast. What if the weather is not suitable for flying? And I already want to go to civilization (shower, clean clothes, bottled water). We gathered the camp and sat and waited with hope. And here he is, a couple of hours late, flying after us!

The helicopter did not land easily. It's a swampy place. I landed on the spot where our tents had recently stood. So, upon landing, he got stuck in a swamp and sat up straight on his butt.
After unloading the passengers (he brought well-trained fishermen with a refrigerator for the fish), the helicopter rose and settled in more comfortably.
But everything went well, we took off, 40 minutes later we were in Briakan and an hour later we were rushing to Khabarovsk along the dusty and broken-down roads of the Far Eastern Territory in a 5-star bus (without air conditioning, with a broken fan, with reclining seat backs not working, in a cabin that smelled of gasoline, with periodic stops during the night for repairs). But they made it with the breeze!

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
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