In the wake of Bering
In search of the spoon-billed sandpiper
Aboard Spirit of Enderby
- 15 days 24 June - 8 July 2012
This expedition is as unique as the First Kamchatka Expedition of 1725 – 1730 which was led by Danish explorer Commander Vitus Bering on orders of Peter the Great. His orders were to travel overland to the Kamchatka Peninsula (from St Petersburg) and there build two ships and sail “north by northeast... chart the coast and collect information”. It was an ambitious journey and a remarkable expedition. Bering set sail from Nizhnekamchatsk on the lower Kamchatka River, our expedition will depart from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy a city named in honour of Bering’s two ships which sailed from here for the second Kamchatka or Great Northern Expedition which he also led.
From here we will sail ‘north by north east’ to discover wildlife and a wilderness that few people have seen or experienced because of the region’s remoteness and the fact that it was a ‘closed area’ until the early 1990’s. It is a land of extremes and myriad environments including snow-capped active volcanoes, geothermal regions, vast forests, extensive tundra, uninhabited islands and rich oceans.
Every day we will search for the best wildlife experience, and there will be many, but we want to find one bird in particular - the extremely rare Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus).This bird is classified as ‘critically endangered’ and its only known breeding ground is in northern Kamchatka and Chukotka – the area that we will be visiting. Recent field studies suggest that the global population is much lower than previously thought, possibly fewer than 320 breeding pairs and declining.
Day 1
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy
Your adventure begins with an overnight stay in historic Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, one of the greatest natural harbours of the world. You can arrive a few days early and visit the Valley of the Geysers or explore one of the volcanoes for which the region is famous.
Day 2
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy
Explore the town’s monuments and exceptional museum before meeting your fellow adventurers and expert expedition team on board the Spirit of Enderby.
Day 3
Zhupanova River
An expedition by Zodiac up this untamed river takes us among valuable ecosystems that support an immense diversity of wildlife. Teeming in the river are salmon, attracting Brown Bears and other predators; we might also see Yellow-breasted Bunting and Green Shank or the Far Eastern Curlew and Common Tern. Upriver, in the mature birch forests, we may be rewarded with a sighting of the magnificent Steller’s Sea Eagle nesting.
Days 4-5
Commander Islands
Once a bustling colony of seal hunters and fur traders, these islands were first discovered by Commander Vitus Bering and became his last resting place after being shipwrecked; we visit his simple grave and the museum in the village of Nikoi’skoye, the one remaining settlement. We land and explore the remote and forbidding bays where over a million seabirds live amid a backdrop of folded-block mountains, volcanic plateaus and sea arches. Home to a myriad of birds, some of the species we might see include several varieties of auklet and albatross plus Thick-billed Murres, Red-legged Kittiwakes and Red-faced Cormorants. We may also spot Steller’s Sealions and seals on the jagged rocks.
Day 6
Verkhoturova Island
On this small and narrow island there is an extensive bird colony, readily-accessible from the sea, where we may see gulls, kittiwakes, guillemots, auklets and Tufted Puffins nesting in the cliffs and wheeling above us.
Day 7
Goven Peninsula
Covering much of this rangy peninsula is the Koryaksky Nature Reserve, encompassing a wide range of habitats from raised beach plains to alpine meadows and steep glaciated mountains. Accompanied by Rangers, we explore the thickets and rivers looking for Brown Bear and hiking the wetlands gives us a chance to see sedge grass, tundra and flowering wild plants. We may be lucky to spot woodpecker among the aromatic poplar and alder that reach up the slopes before Zodiac cruising the coastline for views of sealions and seals.
Day 8
Goven Peninsula/Tintikun Lagoon
Of the many fiords formed on the Koryak Coast during the last glacial period, few are as picturesque as Tintikun. Exploring the lagoon and the mountains by Zodiac we can be sure that few people have gone before us and may be rewarded with sightings of the common Brown Bear as it hunts for salmon running upriver.
Days 9-10
Olyutorskiy Bay
We begin assisting the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recovery Team in this almost inaccessible bay that is normally blocked by fast ice. With only limited resources, the team has never been able to survey this area but it is hoped that it might offer good breeding habitat. Dividing into teams and with supervision and guidance we will survey as much of the region as possible.
Day 11
Bukhta Natalia and Bukhta Dezhneva
Another beautiful fiord possessed of a dramatic allure in the low sun of the Subarctic. A Walrus haul-out guards the entrance and we make a landing to explore the hinterland, surrounded by imposing mountain landscapes and verdant tundra. Nomadic reindeer herders are sometimes encountered in this region.
Days 12-13
Meinypil’gyno
This small settlement clings to a 60km spit on the shore of the Bering Sea and is an area populous with Lesser Sand Plovers and Red Knot. White-billed Diver have been seen here and we hope also to encounter the critically-endangered Kittlitz’ Murrelets that breed in the cliffs nearby. However, our main reason for visiting is to meet with members of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recover Team who will carefully escort us to nearby known breeding pairs of the rare species. Unless our work of the previous days have discovered a population at Olyutorskiy Bay then this area represents the last real stronghold of this charismatic species.
Day 14
Bukhta Gavilla
Between the previous stop and Cape Navarin lies a Walrus haul-out that we investigate before making landfall to explore the lagoon behind an expansive beach for waterfowl and waders. Once forming a land-bridge to North America, this fertile area enjoys an abundance of food; sightings of Grey Whales and many seabirds are common.
Day 15
Anadyr
We say farewell to our fellow voyagers when we arrive in port but as we sail up the harbour, keep a look out for Beluga Whales which can often be seen close to the anchorage by the city. Enjoy a complimentary transfer to the airport or to your hotel.
