This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Geoff York

The surrounding landscape is mountainous and beautiful. New snow covers the higher elevation in what is called “termination dust” back home in Anchorage. I mix up some excellent Swedish hot chocolate to keep warm while I pass the time in the cool, quiet wheelhouse.
The sun slowly rises over an abandoned border guard post on the south side of the Cape. An old tower sits empty and a broken radar mast swings with the morning breeze. Rusting 55 gallon drums lie in piles around the broken down facility. A few short years ago and you could have seen similar abandoned radar stations along the Alaskan coast, though the US military has finally taken action to begin dismantling and cleaning up the sites. 55 gallon drums are so common in the Arctic they are referred to as “tundra daisies” – a sad legacy of past exploits. I can only hope we have learned some hard lessons as we again look at developing areas in the Arctic both on and offshore.
I rouse Anders at 2 AM and we pull the anchor and begin heading to our next planned stop at the village of Lorena. I fall asleep thinking of the shower I plan to take in the morning before my next shift. It has been a few days!
I wake up at 9 AM to conversations and activity below deck – something is up and I assume it is an interesting wildlife sighting. As I grab my clothes, I learn otherwise. We have been ordered to drop anchor and prepare for boarding by a Russian coast guard vessel – definitely not on our agenda. Victor is clearly unhappy and a little bit concerned as he readies all of our paperwork. We are boarded and searched by two polite, but quite serious young men. All of our paperwork is checked out and each of is compared to our passport photos. We wait below for hours before we are cleared to continue, however, we are no longer allowed to make any landings other than Anadyr.
Victor is the most disappointed as he really wanted to visit several of the local towns and make connections with the people in this region. So did I, but I also have come to expect the unexpected and can roll with the slight change of plans. It is simply a paperwork issue and is a reminder that despite the sense of globalisation and free trade, countries are still very controlled, and sometimes, closed to outside visitors. We are glad to have had such wonderful visits earlier in the trip.
Our distraction with the coast guard is soon forgotten as we sight first one then numerous spouts on the horizon. We are just south of Loreno, an active whaling community, and we can see why they chose this resource. There must be over 100 grey whales in the area as we sit and watch them blow and fluke for at least an hour. The sheer abundance of animals and productivity of this region is incredible!

Seas are calm and we take advantage to prepare a nice dinner. Tonight we will share chilli, with fresh baked focaccia (it turns out the engine room is the perfect temperature for proofing yeast breads), and a mixed berry crisp for dessert. The winds start to pick up again as the evening progresses.

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Geoff York

“Climate change is not something which will happen in the future, it is happening now, most dramatically in the Arctic. The main cause is clear and undisputed. Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels is accepted as the main cause of climate change by all scientists save those working for the fossil fuel industry. Polar bears may be some of the earliest victims, but the rest of us are not far behind.” – Steve Sawyer

Our local climate has changed dramatically in the past day. The sea temperature is now above 6 C. We have turned the corner this morning and are now in the Bering Strait, heading south. The one thing we should have seen much more of this trip was summer sea ice, but other than the occasional patch of drift ice encountered, the main pack is far to our north. We are approaching the annual sea ice minimum, generally around mid September, and I will be interested to see if the winds we’ve experienced change the final outcome. The last report I heard anticipated significant loss, but likely not another record year as in 2007.
The village of Uelen sits just north of Cape Dezhnyova, the easternmost point of the Russian mainland. It is 7 AM local time when we sight the village and are surprised when we are hailed on the radio. Someone is up early and alert! We wake up Victor who explains who we are and arranges for a possible visit later in the day. The seas are too rough to land from the north, so we will round the cape and hope for a better anchorage.
At 8 AM the champagne cork flies and the crew assembles on the bow with Ola to celebrate. We are sitting abeam of the Cape and the expedition has now officially transited the Northeast Passage! Cheers and handshakes abound and many photos are taken to document the expedition’s success. It is a perfectly dramatic setting for what continues to be an amazing journey, and it is far from over. Steep cliffs drop to the ocean and seabirds are swirling in all directions. We count four gray whales during our celebration and can see both Diomede Islands from the bow (yes- I truly can see Alaska from my floating house in Russian waters!).
We round the cape and look for a good place to set the hook. A large tanker also sits at anchor nearby and a cargo ship passes us as we head into the bay. As Arctic shipping picks up, the Bering Strait will become a critical passageway and is notorious for fog and very strong currents. This is also a crucial passageway for seabirds, whales, seals, walrus, and polar bear. A shipwreck here could be disastrous and an oil spill would be carried for miles. This serves as another reminder that we need a strong governance framework for the Arctic including reasonable oversight of shipping activities and greatly improved rescue and accident response capabilities.
While Ola and the team have successfully navigated the Passage, we are still miles from Anadyr, where most of the crew will fly home. We are also a very long way from Dutch Harbour, Alaska where I will depart the ship after crossing the Bering Sea. The Bering is one of WWF’s priority ecoregions and home to not only the world’s most productive fisheries, but also Kamchatka, the Pribilof Islands, and Bristol Bay. Our field offices in Alaska and Kamchatka are focused on protecting these important places from some of the very same threats we have in the Arctic: shipping and industrial exploitation.
As Anders, Niklas, and I make our way across the Bering Sea, I will touch on some of these issues. Once we depart Anadyr, the trip will become an open ocean voyage and I will continue to update you on our experiences as we enter the region Vitus Bering described “where the sea breaks its back.” Until then, we have more Russian coast to cover over the next few days, and many more memorable experiences to share!

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Geoff York

“A piece of tundra and the sea is all I need.” – Fedor Tymnetagin, Umky Patrol Member
We arrive at the village of Vankarem at midday. This is a traditional Chukchi settlement of about 200 people and is reminiscent of the Alaskan villages I have visited. A cluster of neat one story homes sit together near the shore with boats pulled up on the tundra and fishing nets stretched in the water.
Just as we set out in the zodiac, we notice a man rowing out to us in a very small dinghy. It is Fedor Tymnetagin, one of the Umky Patrol leaders in Vankarem. We rendezvous on the beach with two more of the patrol members, Alexander and Anatoly, and make introductions. As has become customary, we are first invited for tea!
The village is in stark contrast to the last places we have visited. Most of the past towns had a significant Russian government or military presence in the 1950s and had a legacy of large concrete buildings and a lot of unused, decaying structures. Vankarem looked brand new and was very tidy. This was in part due to the donation of new homes by the well-known Russian, Roman Aboramovich. Though the homes were a onetime gift, the residents have continued to clean up old structures and make Vankarem an attractive place to live.
Walrus are not new to Cape Vankarem, though they have grown in numbers during years of record ice retreat like 2007. That same year, Vankarem counted 200 polar bears in and around town, so the patrol had a very busy season! Along with supporting the patrol work, WWF helped the village of Vankarem establish the Cape as an official nature reserve to protect the haul out. We also provide support to move walrus carcasses away from town so as not to attract any additional bears. The people here depend on the sea for survival and have a deep connection to the surrounding landscape and wildlife. It is a very peaceful place.

Fydor and the others offer to guide us out to the Cape to observe walrus up close. Unlike Ryrkaipiy, the walrus here do not spook as easily and can be approached from above without disturbance. It is a beautiful tundra-covered point with steep rocky beaches. Thousands of walrus are hauled out on the north and south sides and we soon here the familiar sounds competition for beach space. We sit for several hours watching the walrus, taking in the views, and visiting with the guys about life in Vankarem.
In February 2010, we plan to bring Fydor and two other Umky Patrol leaders to Alaska. The idea is to facilitate conversations among northern communities facing some of the same issues as a result of the changing climate. We hope that the examples from the work of the Chukchi people can be a model for grass roots conservation efforts in Alaska and elsewhere. The community meetings will be a good first step.

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Geoff York

The boat is moving so slowly and in calm waters as I take my watch with Anders. Ryrkaipiy is in sight, but it is still dark and too early to approach, so we reduce speed to a mere 2 knots and make a very gradual arrival. From a distance we begin to see the tell tale signs of a former military base- abandoned structures and debris. In the middle of this however, is what appears to be well-maintained and colourfully painted buildings.
The sunrise reveals a beautiful landscape surrounding the settlement. The Chukchi Mountains stretch out to the west, some with snow covered peaks. Rolling hills surround the town and Cape Schmidt is virtually an island connected only by a thin gravel strip. The island is rocky and dramatic compared to the relatively flat landscapes seen thus far.
A light breeze from the south has brought much warmer temperatures so I go out on the forward deck as we approach closer to shore. The light is just marginal for binoculars as I try to investigate this new area. Then I hear it, an unusual noise travelling across the water. As we draw closer and the dawn breaks, the mystery is revealed: we can see walrus!

On the shores of the rocky headlands and stretching out into the ocean we can see brown bodies jostling for beach space and heads bobbing in the sea. As we set anchor and the day is fully upon us, I see we are also surrounded by ringed seals, cormorants, seabirds, and sea ducks. A flock of geese also cruise by to the south. Compared to the seas we just left, this is truly an explosion of life.
The hundreds of walrus we saw initially were only an appetiser too as we can now see thousands including a brown carpet stretching far up the south facing hill. To top it off, we have one polar bear in sight of the boat too! It appears to be feeding on a walrus carcass, of which there are plenty, and is a quite healthy looking male. I have never seen such an abundance of wildlife in one place at one time. The sounds from the haul out grow louder as I sip my morning coffee in the sun. I should be in my bunk, but this is just too amazing to pass up and the weather is the best we have seen.
Ryrkaipiy slowly comes to life as I see the occasional person walking and many taking a good look at this strange boat sitting just offshore. Visitors here are truly rare, especially by sea. We decide to make our landing around 10 AM and make arrangements on the VHF with the local border guard to meet at the beach.
This is a special visit for me as it is the home of Vladilen Kavriy, the father and driving force behind the Umky Patrol. I met Vlad at a meeting last year in the Ukraine and hoped to one day visit him in Ryrkaipiy. He is expecting us and was actually out on patrol when we came in this morning – always watching and aware of his surroundings.
The Umky Patrol was born out of tragedy. In 2005, a young girl was killed by a polar bear in this village. In response the town decided to take actions to prevent this from happening again. In coordination and with support from WWF, the Umky Patrol now works to reduce bear human conflict in several villages across the Russian Arctic, manage attractants around towns, educate the public on safety around bears and walrus, minimise disturbance to walrus haul outs, and guard against poaching. The activities of the patrol members, especially their outreach efforts within their communities, has also led to grass roots conservation in the designation of new protected areas for recently formed and existing walrus haul outs. Something I would love to see happen more frequently in other parts of the Arctic – community-led conservation.
The paperwork check on shore is a brief formality and we are quickly making introductions to a group of locals including Vlad and two of his team: Tatiana (a local Chukchi woman) and Varvera (an intern from Moscow who luckily speaks some English). The day has been mapped out by our friends onshore. First we will visit the walrus haul out, then go for tea at Vlad’s, then it is off to visit the bear on the island, a presentation by our crew on the expedition at the town hall, followed by a dinner reception – northern hospitality at its finest!
The opportunity to sit next to a walrus haul out estimated to approach 20,000 animals is truly a unique and stunning experience. The sounds alone are really something – barking and grunting with occasional whistles. Walrus cover the beaches, hillside, and water. It must take a huge amount of prey to support this many animals. Some walrus nap while others vie for positions on the beach and it seems walrus are quite good at spooking themselves into mini-stampedes. All of this activity is just a few hundred metres from town.
Walrus had not occupied this area in recent memory and definitely not in these numbers. Nordenskjold reported seeing walrus in this area, but we have no idea in what numbers. We do know that walrus throughout the Chukchi have been abandoning the sea ice completely when it recedes out beyond the continental shelves. We know this from animals tracked by satellite tags and also from observations along both the Chukotka and Alaskan coasts of walrus appearing in large numbers and in areas they have never been seen before.
I have mentioned earlier the hazards of this strategy to walrus and people. It also puts walrus at risk of depleting their coastal food resources. Walrus rely on the drifting sea ice to distribute them randomly across large areas, so they are constantly on the move. Forced to come ashore, they are very limited in foraging and safe haul out areas. While walrus can live on shore quite well, it is widely held that this scenario will support far fewer animals than exist today.
We take afternoon tea at Vlad’s home – a great Russian tradition of sharing a light meal. We snack on homemade bread, dried fish, and pelmini (potato dumplings with sour cream). We then head off to visit the island’s current lone polar bear. Vladilen has an amazing understanding of the behaviour of polar bears, and while he respects them greatly, he does not fear them and carries only a two metre-long stick. Having worked with polar bears for the past decade, I am much more interested in watching Vlad than the bear on this occasion!
As the day turns to night, we head for the grand finale of our visit. As we enter the community centre, we are impressed with its quality and size. We are truly surprised to enter a packed auditorium filled with local community members who have come to hear our presentations on the expedition. Following a brief lecture by Ola and Victor, and some good Q&A, it was time for the town to once again impress us with their hospitality. For the next hour we were the guests of honour for a truly impressive performance of Chukchi song and dance!
We ended our visit with a very pleasant dinner hosted by the mayor and some local dignitaries including Vlad. The food was great, but the company was even better. For anyone who has travelled much in Russia, singing is a national past time and we were treated again and again to beautiful traditional songs as it grew close to our departure time.
It was a truly exceptional day, one of the extremely rare ones where your senses are flooded from the time you awake to the time you happily slip into bed. I cannot say enough about the hospitality of Ryrkaipiy, the beautiful lands that surround the village, and the wonderful people we shared time with today. Thanks as well to our teammate Victor Boyarsky for the endless translations that made it all possible!

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Geoff York

The winds have finally let down as I sit alone in the dark boat for my anchor watch. The outside temperature is -1 C. My ship mates are sleeping soundly after two straight days and nights of rough seas. The boat is sitting across the bay from Pevek and the town is lit up much like any modern town, except this is truly remote country. I watch the lights of a vehicle on the outskirts of the settlement. As I look across the water, I am again struck by the commonalities of northern communities across the Arctic and among northern people. Though indigenous people perfected living strategies for this region, for most of us, life in the north would be a tremendous challenge.
We dock in the early morning and meet with the local authorities. It is also a good chance to restock with any available vegetables. The store is well stocked and we buy onions, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and even some tomatoes. In its heyday, Pevek was a city of 14,000 people. Today, it is about 4,000 and appears much more active than Tiksi. The reason is soon made clear: gold. A new gold mine is operating just south of town and in two years has already extracted 18 tons of gold we are told by the border guards.
There are no roads connected to this place, only seasonal ship access and air travel. Pevek, like many northern communities, is wholly dependent on resources from outside to maintain their fuel and commodity reserves.  Just down from where we are docked, a bulk container ship is offloading coal, adding to an already huge stockpile. New machinery and supplies for the mine are stacked all around. I wonder what Pevek will look like when the gold runs out. What and who will be left behind?
We finish our business in short order, make our farewells, and head back to sea.

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Geoff York
After being in the ice twice now, yesterday for several hours, I am struck by what we are not seeing. Other than the odd seagull and a few small seabirds, we see no signs of life whatsoever.  In other parts of the Arctic we would see numerous seabirds and sea ducks, seals, walrus, whales, and possibly polar bears. In the coastal waters of the New Siberian Sea, we make few observations of marine mammals at all, save for two ringed seal on the 30^th.
We spent the night sailing into increasingly windy conditions and I awake to a rolling boat in gale winds. Walking to the galley takes extra coordination in my half-awake state, as the boat’s movements are not predictable and can be fairly extreme. I pass on coffee.

As I come onto my watch I am instructed to don a full immersion suit. The first part of my morning will be spent on the bow, outside, looking for ice. Knowing that we have a large area of drift ice to our north, we take extreme care as we continue sailing into the night. In full survival regalia, I clip onto the lifeline and make my way forward to replace Fredrik. What a rush. Standing on the deck in the dim light with gale winds pushing the sea to foam in places is quite the way to wake up. The boat rolls and pitches in the waves and it is exhilarating to be outside in the cool wind. The suit keeps me comfortable and dry, and it is actually easier to stand the wave motion when you can see what is coming.
As the day grows lighter around 2 AM I return to the relative warmth of the wheelhouse. By 0230 we have ice in sight again – a long stream stretching out in front of our path. We head south and spend the next two hours intently looking for the myriad iceberg bits strewn across the ocean. With the whitecaps and sea foam, it is hard to tell ice from water at times. This is the last thing Anders wanted to see, and once again ice threatens the success of the expedition.
We are pushed much further south than he would like to go and there is concern the ice could trap us against the shore. Perhaps it is a gift for Anders’ birthday, or perhaps we are just lucky, but we find clear water and resume our progress to Pevek.
The boat is still rolling when I awake for my afternoon watch, but we now have land in sight. We also have company as we fall in behind a Russian ice breaking cargo ship – perhaps a glimpse at the future of these arctic waters. As we turn into the bay adjacent to Pevek, there are three ships at Anchor, and we know three left here yesterday. Winds prevent us from docking and we anchor across the water from town for a much needed night of calm water for all.
The crew immediately falls to maintenance work while the rest begin dinner and tackle their cleaning duties for the day. In the morning we will go into the port and meet with the border guards to complete the required paperwork. We also hope to talk with the manager of the Wrangel Island Nature Preserve and assess whether we should make a stop on the island.