Wrangel Island

Wrangel and nearby Herald Island are the only land habitats for wildlife in the Chukchi Sea, northwest of the Bering Strait. That is why the island became the Wrangel Island Zapovednik in 1976. Wrangel Island is associated with polar bears primarily and is the only Asian island where Wrangle Island snow geese nest. Pacific walrus also feed along the shores and the island boasts the largest seabird colony of the Chukchi Sea. Musk ox has been reintroduced on the island as well. Scientific research done in the 1970's and 1980's found the island to be very unique, as if forgotten in time, in the context of the Arctic. Forty species of vascular plants have been identified on the island, which is more than all the plants on may of the Canadian archipelago islands combined. Diversity is rich in every category except in land Mammals.

Until 50,000 years ago, Wrangel and Herald Islands were part of the Beringia landmass joining Asia and America. Separated by the rising oceans, they now rest between the Chukotka and East Siberian seas. Today, ten atmospheric glaciers dot Wrangel, formed by blowing ice and snow. Three parallel mountain ranges dissect Wrangel Island, running from east to west, sheltering wide river valleys between their towering ridges. The largest mountain river rises more than 1000 m above the sea in the central mountain range. Wrangel's total land area is less than 8,000 square kilometers (890 square miles), but is the most diverse Russian landmass of its size.

The small Herald Island, only 8 square km, is a massive chunk of granite jutting 380 m above the sea. In 1849, a British search party discovered the island while looking for a lost explorer and named it after the rescue ship. It was another 20 years before an American whaling ship discovered the larger Wrangel Island, to km west of Herald. It was named for the explorer and Russian Navy Lieutenant F. P. von Vrangel who had searched for the island after hearing about it from the native people of Chukchi. He traveled over the ice by dog sled several times in 1821-1823 but never reached the island.

Wrangel island straddles the 180 degree meridian with half of its territory in the Western Hemisphere and the other half in the Eastern. The islands lie north of the Arctic Circle and are bisected by the 71 degree parallel. An ocean of ice surrounds the islands in the winter, forming an extension to the terrestrial habitat of polar bears and arctic foxes. The islands form the only obstacle to encroaching winter ice and play an important role in keeping areas of water open for walruses, seals and polar bears that depend on this ocean year around.

Polar bears, Pacific walruses, the largest pinniped in the northern hemisphere, weighing more than a ton and measuring up to 4 meters long, initially attracted settlers to Wrangel island in the 20th century. The island is also populated by a slowly decreasing amount of snow geese representing the last remaining populations in Asia today.

More than 80,000 walruses crowd ice floes and rocky spits on the islands during the short summer breeding season, diving in the icy waters to feel on mollusks. Many of the females swim 140 km from the mainland to give birth to their young on the secluded islands. The young walruses' only natural predator is the mighty polar bear, the largest terrestrial carnivore in the Northern Hemisphere.

From 350-500 pregnant bears den on the two islands, this represents 80 percent of the breeding population of the Chukotka region. The majority of the bears remain at sea throughout the year searching for prey on the ice, returning to land only when the ice floes have melted completely. Thick skin and long tusks make mature walruses difficult prey even for the strongest bears, thus seals are their main diet. Ringed and bearded seals are plentiful on the islands.

Settlers introduced the reindeer to Wrangel Island in 1950, although archeological findings suggest that they may have lived there during historic times. Well-adapted to the harsh conditions, the reindeer quickly began to damage the delicate ecosystem. When the government created the zapovednik, it undertook to limit the reindeer numbers to 1-1,500. Musk oxen were reintroduced to the island in 1975, with an initial population of twenty. These wooly mammoths are the largest Arctic ungulates and their thick coats are well suited for living on Wrangel Island.

Fifty species of migratory birds and waterfowl come to the islands each year. Eight kinds of seabirds nest in large rookeries on the cliffs and rocky shores of the islands. The blacklegged kittiwake, pelagic cormorants and glaucous gull are common birds, feeding on the abundance of fish and marine invertebrates in the relatively shallow waters.

The interior of the island provides protection from the cold winds for both birds and animals. The snowy owl builds its nets in a depression on the ground, feeding primarily on lemmings. Brent geese, elder ducks, and snow geeses frequent the more than 900 lakes to raise their young. Endangered species include Ross' gull, buff-breasted sandpiper and spoon- billed sandpiper.

References: Wild Russia www.wild-russia.org

Photos: www.coastalimagery.com/vrangel_summer.com

We have limited copies available of a booklet about Wrangel Island. Please contact us at info@traveleastrussia.com, if you are interested.

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