May 30 A little piece of paradise - Medny Island

Approaching Preobrazhenskaya Bay, Medny Island

Another early start today - breakfast 6am, briefing 6.45 for a 7.15 departure - in order to maximise our time exploring Medny Island (the other large island in the Commander Islands chain). Later that day we would be sailing back west towards the Kamchatka Peninsula to venture up one of the large east coast rivers.

Scrambling aboard being careful not to slip!

Before I tell you about this beautiful island, let me tell you about boarding a zodiac. Bear in mind that we are dressed in a few layers of warm clothing, hat, gloves etc finished off with wet weather outer layer - pants and coat plus clumping great gumboots a few sizes too big - all of which hamper movement somewhat. We line up and wait our turn to go down the gangway. Oh and I should mention that 90% of the passengers are over 60. The gangway is a stair-like ladder swaying with the ship and it feels like it is held together with rope - it's not of course it's chain! but it is a wobbly affair.  We are helped individually into a zodiac by a couple of sailors using a 'sailors' grip to avoid your hands slipping. You have to step onto the pontoon of the zodiac first then down into the boat, perch on the pontoon, 'slide' down to the back and hang on. We zap across the water like a small flotilla of harlequin beetles - black upturned carapaces dotted with bright spots of colour, us! - there are usually five boats that head out. The first time was a bit nerve-racking but soon the ride became quite exhilarating (depending which driver you get). 

Landing at a totally deserted beach on a deserted island - heavenly

We landed at Preobrazhenskaya Bay which had been a settlement established by Russians for the collection of seal, sea lion and sea otter pelts and a dabble in copper mining (hence the name). They brought Aluets from the Aluetian Islands to 'service' the settlement and support their fur and sealing trade.That was a dark period of history but the settlement was abandoned, I don't recall when, and the remnants of the settlement left to rot. 

Reminders of the settlement - well may they seek blesings from above!

A large group went off birdwatching, a few intrepid trekkers walked up snow-covered mountains, over headlands, cliffs and rocks and me? I went off on my own exploring plant life and rocks. I found masses of beautiful green rocks which I reckoned contained copper which makes sense - I found out later that the name Medny means copper. They had attempted to mine it at one stage but it was too hard to extract. It was quite fascinating for me discovering strange plants including cow parsley which the bears eat. It grows about 3 feet high and when it dries, it leaves a stiff hollow stalk which the indigenous people used to stuff with salmon roe and then dry and smoke it over the fire. They would then take these nutritious snacks with them when they went hunting or travelling.  

An Arctic fox a little wary of anyone near her den. The grass has still not recovered from the winter snow

A glorious shore to explore and a couple of seals were keeping watch over their piece of paradise

Another remnant of earlier Russian settlement. All inhabitants were moved to Bering Island in 1970

I saw an Arctic Fox also known as a Blue Fox because of the bluish tinge in its summer coat - their winter coat is pale golden. They are about the size of a kelpie and so adorable. As I wandered a couple of seals (Harbour Seals I think) kept watch from a rock in the wee harbout I was beachcombing. 

After everyone had returned for their various 'excursions', we piled back into the zodiacs to explore the coast line. It was like being live inside a National Geographic documentaey - breathtaking.

Bird-snow decorated cliffs

Medny is stunningly beautiful! Towering moss-covered cliffs, some with grass mats on top like strange-looking toupees, caves and tiny hollows where seabirds nest, plunged almost vertically to the ocean. Fortunately the sea was fairly calm with only a diaphanous blanket of fog hanging over us as we glided through kelp forests that hug the cliffs and provide a safe haven for the Northern Sea Otters and other marine life. Our little flotilla had an audience - the curious sea otters kept popping their heads up out of the kelp in ones and twos, including mums with their young on their bellies, to check us out. Adorable! They float on their backs while not diving.  Sea urchins are their food of choice but they also eat clams and other crustaceans which they gather and tuck into skin flaps under their arms before surfacing to eat floating on their backs. They often using rocks and shells to crack open their food, clever things.  The kelp was dense and we had to untangle ourselves a number of times but oh how marvellous to see such a sea forest.

A Horned Puffin perched high above the water

We were all mouths agape as we moved slowly along the sea cliffs

Hugging rugged coastal cliffs - thrilling! (This is Roger the ship's doctor who went on every excursion)

Bird snow iced these spikey rocks 

We cruised slowly around rocky headlands, passed beaches littered with debris (mainly large logs), maneuvered between rocky outcrops 'iced' with 'bird snow' and poked into the entrances of large sea caverns. I spotted  a few pairs of Horned Puffins - they are soooo cute! They perch and nest on the tiniest rock ledges and their babies learn to fly by simply falling off the cliff. I was very happy and there was so much more yet to come - what a magic holiday!

We rode back to the ship in dense fog which had started to descend around noon after an absolutely perfect morning.  That afternoon we set course for the Zhupanova River on the east coast of Kamchatka to search for ginormous Stellar sea eagles.