Wrangel Island is part of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Wrangel Island

Wrangel Island is the northernmost nature conservation complex in Russia. Its name comes from the surname of the famous Russian conqueror of the seas Ferdinand Wrangel, although the locals call the island itself Umkilir - "The Land of Polar Bears".

It is also considered one of the largest reserves and fits on an area of \u200b\u200b2.2 million hectares. At the same time, the sea area occupies half of the territory, but only 800 thousand hectares belong to the protected zone. "Wrangel Island" owns a pair of large islands in the Chukchi Sea - Herald and Wrangel. They are located in the east of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The decree establishing a state reserve was promulgated in 1976.

Features:

Initially, the reserve was created to study the ecosystems of the Arctic island regions. In addition, this complex was aimed at preserving rare animals and plant species, among which there are many endemics. So, a year before the declaration of this zone as a reserve, a musk ox was acclimatized on it. The modern protected area was formalized in 1983 and at sea in 1999. In 2012, the last change took place related to the increase in the coastal protected area.

The main part of the reserve is a mountainous landscape with elements of the arctic tundra. There are over a hundred small rivers and streams on the island, as well as about 1000 small lakes. A windy and frosty climate reigns on the islands, which partly complicates the work of scientists and hinders the tourist opportunities of the reserve.

It is characteristic that the Wrangel Island nature reserve was the first nature conservation zone in the USSR, where it was allowed to carry out fishing activities among the indigenous population. Some of the island's lands are of value to archaeologists. Here, not only the remains of ancient mammoths were found, but also the remains of the life of a caveman.

The limited excursion program on the island is travel by ATVs and ATVs. Tourists visit the "Doubtful Bay", Devil's ravine, Mount Percantum.

A wealth of flora on the island

The flora of the reserve is unique in terms of the number of endemics. In total, about 500 plant species have been registered on these lands, which is several times more than the standard indicators of the Arctic tundra. Among the interesting endemics, it is worth highlighting several types of poppy, cinquefoil, sharkfish, and helplessness. Scientists also count 300 species of mosses and lichens in the area. The main part of the mountains is covered with grass, shrub and lichen cover. You can find swampy areas, and in the southern latitudes of the island - forest plantations. The tops of the mountains are stone mounds.

Wildlife of the reserve

Due to the harsh climatic conditions, the fauna of the nature protection complex is significantly limited. There are no representatives of amphibians and reptiles in the special zone at all. The fish lives only off the coast. The key advantage of the reserve is the large number of birds, not excluding sea birds and constantly building nests on the island. Of interest to researchers are the white goose, brent geese, eiders, and waders. The seashores are notable for such an interesting phenomenon as the bird colonies, consisting of cormorants, kittiwakes and guillemots.

Speaking of mammals, it should be noted that there are many lemmings, deer, ermines, polar foxes and wolverines. However, the polar bear is rightfully considered the most famous inhabitant of Wrangel Island. The maximum number of his ancestral dens is arranged here.

For a long time, scientists have also been observing reindeer and musk oxen, which were brought to this territory and underwent acclimatization for a long time.

The coast of the reserve is a walrus rookery, and in the water area itself you can meet belugas and gray whales.

Existence large island in this sector of the Arctic Ocean, M.V. Lomonosov. In 1763, Mikhailo Vasilyevich showed on a map of the polar regions north of Chukotka big Island "Doubtful". The location of this alleged land was close to the real Wrangel Island. The indigenous inhabitants of Chukotka, subjects of the Russian Empire, knew about the existence of the island long before its discovery by Europeans. The first European to inform the world about the existence of the island was Lieutenant of the Russian Navy Ferdinant Petrovich Wrangel. He learned about the existence of land north of Chukotka from a Chukotka elder. In 1821-1923 F.P. Wrangel's expedition undertook three expeditions into the ice in order to find this land. Each time, vast expanses of open water blocked the path of the detachment, forcing them to turn back towards the mainland. The island was not found, but Wrangel was sure that it exists and plotted it on the map, showing the location correctly in latitude, but slightly shifting to the west.

In 1849, Captain Kellett, who commanded the Herald, which was sent to search for the missing expedition of J. Franklin, approached a previously unknown island and landed on it, giving the island the name of his ship, but without even taking its coordinates. To the west of Herald Island, the members of Captain Kellet's crew saw peaks of other mountains, considering them islands, but did not continue their geographical survey.

The American whaler Thomas Long became a European who formally discovered Wrangel Island in 1867. Knowing about the geographical works of F.P. Wrangel, Captain Long gave the island the name of a Russian officer.

The first landing of Europeans on the island took place only in 1881 - people from the crew of the American ship Corvin, under the command of Lieutenant Berry, set foot on land.

In 1911, the first Russian expedition reached Wrangel Island on the Vaigach ship, planting the Russian flag on the island, and in 1916 the tsarist government declared that the island belonged to the Russian Empire.

In 1924, the gunboat Krasny Oktyabr placed the Soviet flag on the island, and two years later, the Soviet government issued a resolution on sovereignty over Wrangel Island.

In 1926, by the decision of the Soviet government, a permanent Soviet settlement was founded on the island, headed by the famous Russian explorer of the Arctic, Georgy Alekseevich Ushakov. A meteorological station was established on the island and regular scientific research began.

The first settlers of the island were mainly the indigenous inhabitants of Eastern Chukotka, resettled to the island to organize hunting. From the moment they were founded on the settlement island, the fishing of Arctic fox, walrus, polar bear, white geese, geese.

In 1948, a small group of domesticated reindeer was brought to the island and a branch of the reindeer herding state farm was organized. In addition to the main settlement in Rogers Bay (the village of Ushakovskoye), in the 60s, a second settlement of Zvezdny was built on the island in the bay. Doubtful. An unpaved military aviation reserve airfield was built here (liquidated in the 70s). In addition, a military radar station was set up at Cape Hawaii.

In the center of the island, near the mouth of the brook. Khrustalny, for several years, rock crystal was mined, for which a small village was rebuilt at the foot of Mount Perkatkun, which was subsequently completely liquidated.

No, the island is not named after the famous Russian military leader Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel.

It is a rare case when, even in a dry academic transcript of Wikipedia, the history of this island reads like a detective story.

So, Wrangel Island is a part of the land, surrounded by ice in the Arctic Ocean.
The area is about 7670 sq. km. Extremely harsh natural conditions. The average temperature in July is +3 degrees. In January-February, it often drops to -37.

The first people, Paleo-Eskimos, hunted on this island as early as 1750 BC. It is unlikely that the climate of those places was very different from what can be found now, therefore, these hunters had to oh, how difficult it was.

More than two thousand years passed before this island was first depicted on maps. The island got its first name, "Land of Kellet" in 1849, thanks to the English navigator, Henry Kellet, who described it during his expedition to the Chukchi Sea.

Another 16 years passed and in 1866 a team of a merchant ship landed on the island under the leadership of Captain Eduard Dahlmann.

The next year, in 1867, by a strange coincidence, the island receives a different name, with which it is included in all maps of the world. The American explorer and whaler Thomas Long, either not knowing about Kellett's discovery, or simply because of a navigational error, names the island after the famous Russian traveler, geographer, statesman, admiral, Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel.

It may seem strange that an American gives the new island the name of a Russian traveler, but given the wide popularity of Ferdinand Petrovich, who at that time already had three round the world travel and many other merits, the act looks quite normal.

In 1881, Captain Hooper landed a search group on the island to rescue the expedition of George De Long, which was sailing to the North Pole on the Jeannette two years earlier and suffered a disaster. At the same time, Captain Hooper plants the American flag on the island and declares it the territory of the North American United States. In this status, Wrangel Island existed for 30 years, until already in the 20th century, in 1911, the team of the icebreaking steamer (!) Vaigach approached the island, took a photograph of its coast, and planted the Russian flag, about which points made a corresponding entry in the logbook.

1914 year.
For about six months, from January to September, 15 crew members of the Karluk brigantine lived on the island awaiting a rescue expedition after their ship was crushed by ice 130 kilometers from the coast.

1921 year.
Canadian polar explorer Williamur Stefanson establishes a settlement of five colonists on the island, declares the territory the property of Great Britain and raises the flag of the United Kingdom.

For two years the colonists lived on the island without communication with the outside world. Several ships, which during this time tried to bring provisions and equipment to the island, could not pass through the ice. And only in August 1923, the only survivor, 25-year-old Ada Blackjack, who had been living in absolute solitude for the last six months, was rescued from the island. The rest of the colonists were killed.

In 1923, another attempt was made to colonize the island, this time by the American geologist Charles Wells, who founded the camp, bringing with him 12 experienced residents of the far north, with women and children. The colony existed for several months, until August 20, 1924, when it was taken out in full by the Soviet warship Red October.

1926 year.
A permanent settlement of 59 people was founded on Wrangel Island under the leadership of the Soviet Arctic explorer Georgy Ushakov. The foundation of the polar station is being laid.

1948-1960s.
Reindeer were brought to the island from the mainland, a reindeer herding state farm was organized, 2 more settlements were founded, and several military infrastructure facilities were built.

One of the residents of the village, V. Pridatko-Dolin, describes the state of the settlement in his book "Ushakovskoe: how was it?":

By the end of the 1970s, a village council, a boarding school, a kindergarten and a boiler room, a cinema club, an office for a nature reserve (and later the Wrangel Island reserve) and a modest natural history museum, a shop (TZP) and an underground glacier for storing meat products, corral (for autumn corral and reindeer slaughter), post office, hospital, Rogers Bay polar station (Rogers), Rogers airport (for AN-2, MI-2, MI-6, MI-8) and a small air station, fuel and lubricants warehouse and bulk coal storage, library, diesel power station and bathhouse, and there was electricity in the houses.

During navigation, a temporary berth for barges was in operation. Since the beginning of the 1980s, a radiotelephone communication station, a border post, a canteen for the reserve staff and air crews, a television was working, and a lighthouse was restored on the Ushakov Spit.

But, already at the end of the 1980s, the military and permanent residents began to leave the island due to lack of funding, in 1992, after the collapse of the USSR, the radar station was closed.

In 1997, all the remaining residents of the village, except for those who refused to leave their usual home, were transported to Cape Schmidt. A few years later, one of the villagers returned back, but in 2003 she died as a result of an attack by a polar bear.

Published on 03.24.2019 12:14 pm, which washes the northern coast of Russia, there are a large number of archipelagos and islands, all of them, due to the harsh climate, are not inhabited by humans, although scientific stations operate on them and border military units are located for protection. In the northern expanses in the waters of the East Siberian Sea is located wrangel Island,the Chukchi Sea is also nearby, it should be noted that this territory is in a snow cap all year round, with the exception of some land areas. Only in the summer period of time, when the polar day comes, scarce nature comes to life Arctic desert and the birds come to produce offspring. Almost eight months of the year shore wrangel Islands bound by ice and ice hummocks.

Pages of the history of the discovery of Wrangel Island.

Geographical discovery in the Arctic wrangel Islands only happened in 1820, the expedition F.P. Wrangel studied coast of Chukotka and terrain mapping. Wrangel and his colleagues marked a large island on the map, although they tried to visit it, using dog sleds for movement, reaching on the ice. They brought in geographic data from the confluence of the Kolyma River into the sea up to the Kolyuchinskaya Bay. and is truly visible from cape Yakan in the summertime, the hypothetically existing land was found and marked on maps as an island with mountains in the center. The geometry of the island is 155 kilometers long and 76 kilometers wide.

Researchers led by Wrangel tried several times to achieve wrangel Islands ... But each time the path was blocked by ice hummocks, sometimes unfrozen areas of the sea - ice holes, and sometimes it happened that they found themselves on a detached ice floe that drifted across the sea, but by a happy coincidence the ice floes converged, and the travelers could return to the mainland. The attempts were accompanied by 150-200 km crossings on the ice of the frozen sea.

It was a very risky event, especially in the spring time, the ice cracked and melted under the influence of the approaching heat, huge ice fields. Collapsing, they rose almost perpendicularly to the surface of the water and went under the water with a crash and a terrible noise, the waves beat them furiously, but after a while they surfaced, carrying silt and sand back on themselves. The raging element in such conditions leaves no chance to survive. So get Wrangel and his companions to this island did not succeed.

For the next expeditions, Wrangel was not given appropriations, and the American became the discoverer captain Long in 1867 he came to the shores on a whaling ship called "Nile" wrangel Islands, in his honor, then the strait was named, dividing the mainland from the island. Ten years later, another American captain hooper first landed on wrangel Island, his ship "Corvina" managed to drop anchor off the coast of the island.

Only during the Soviet Union from 1933 on wrangel Island a polar station appeared, which is still operating. Polar explorers made a complete geographic outline of the map of the island, for a long time they studied the nature of the island.

Protected area.

Currently wrangel Island is a protected area protected by the state, its location in a unique Arctic zone makes it really interesting to study the nature of these northern latitudes. For any person who comes here, the atmosphere of these places will make a strong impression, it depends on the mood with a plus or minus sign. Nature lives here for two months a year, in July and August all the rest of the time winter reigns here, and from November to the end of January the sun does not appear over the horizon, the only light at this time is the light of the moon and polar lightsattacked by the earth's magnetic field, cosmic particles drifting in space.

The phenomenon of the aurora borealis does not descend from the firmament on the polar night for whole weeks, playing with tints always with a different direction, not repeating and beautiful in its own way. This phenomenon can be watched for hours, it is like watching an interesting film on TV, overflows over the entire color spectrum here during the entire aurora borealis, bizarre dances and changes in the position of light rays, here nature shows its creativity from an unexpected perspective.

Weather on Wrangel Island.

In spring and autumn, the most powerful winds and hurricanes come to this territory, from which there is no escape, because the average wind speed exceeds 100 kilometers per hour (almost 30 meters per second). Wind gusts can be 160 kilometers per hour (45 meters per second), and this is in a searing frost with high humidity. These winds blow away all the snow cover from the mountains located on wrangel Island, the blown snow falls into valleys and gorges, the depth of snowdrifts there reaches 30 meters, naturally, in a short period of summer this mass does not have time to melt.

In a short summer on wrangel Island around the clock the luminary does not leave the horizon, this happens for almost two months from May to July, during this period the nature of the island is transformed. Rivers and streams begin to flow from the slopes and valleys towards the sea, mosses and lichens acquire different colors, grass breaks through in open areas, there are no trees here, and shrubs more than fifteen centimeters from the ground are not understood here, thereby saving themselves from strong winds and searing frosts. Meteorologists calculated that the average temperature on an annualized basis was wrangel Island almost minus twelve degrees. But on summer days in the valleys on the island, closed from the winds, the air warms up to fifteen degrees Celsius, and since the sun shines very brightly and you can get very burned in the open air. In the rivers and lakes on the island, during the winter period of time, complete freezing occurs to the very bottom, so there are no fish in them. The only thing that gives life and food on the island in winter is the sea, so all animals generally live closer to the coast, where you can find food.

Walruses on Wrangel Island.

On Wrangel Island they set up their rookery, walruses, which are rightfully considered the largest animals in the Arctic , the size of adult males reaches 4.5 meters in length, and sometimes weighs more than 2 tons, even polar bears avoid such large walruses. The main weapon of walruses, his tusks, he defends himself with them and uses them to get food from the bottom, furrowing the bottom with his tusks, he raises silt and mollusks, which are included in his nutritious diet. Number of walruses per wrangel Island now it is more than 10 thousand individuals. It is especially interesting to watch the rookery during the mating season, when the males fight among themselves for the right to mate with the female. The American researcher, who first saw walruses, compared him to a devil-like creature. But this is an erroneous point of view, the walrus is rather good-natured, the expression of his muzzle with big eyes and an even larger mustache, except for tenderness, does not cause negative feelings. These creatures are dangerous if you come close to them, and he feels danger for himself, his eyes become bloodshot, and he begins to utter threatening cries. Although its movement on land is limited, at a short distance the walrus can gore even a large white bear who decides to make a walrus his prey. Therefore, it is necessary to admire walruses from a safe distance, without giving him a reason to feel a possible danger to himself.

The body color of the walrus is brown-brown; in the rookery they are close to each other. If it is necessary to move an individual to or from the sea, serious fights for space periodically arise, both for lying and for movement. Sometimes all this mass falls asleep and silence is established over the rookery, broken only by the wind and the waves on the shore. Cubs are not as calm as adults, they are constantly on the move, making their way to the sea, they crawl over the carcasses of lying walruses, and sometimes get a fin for disturbing adults. Baby walruses splash in shallow water on Wrangel Island both them and their parent are calm, protected area guarantees that they will not be hunted here, and the large number of mollusks at the bottom near the island provides them with food.

Of course, the walrus looks very formidable and fierce, its size inspires respect, but they are very sensitive to human activities, mechanical noises unbalance them and they can forever retreat from their permanent rookeries, only because of regular extraneous sounds emitted by human technology. They have a very sensitive hearing, in which the entire nervous system is exposed, therefore they are as sensitive to interference in their habitat by strangers as it happened on the shores of Chukotka and Kuril Islands , there their population has declined greatly. There is a known case when an inexperienced pilot flew too low over the rookery on an airplane, and the frightened walruses rushed into the sea, a crush arose and a dozen individuals were crushed by their relatives, after which the walruses swam away from this place forever.

Birds flying north.

On ice floes near the coast wrangel Islands there are many seals, seals and bearded seals, in the sea they fish for their own food. On rocky shores wrangel Islands numerous bird colonies are formed, more than three hundred thousand birds fly to the shores of the island every year. From birds you can find here:

• Kairou
• Cormorant
• Kittiwake seagull
• Skua
• Burgomaster

And many other species that fly to the island in the summer to breed offspring, this is inherent in their genetic memory, from the time when the climate in these places corresponded Central Russia.

Nature produces amazing birds and animals, one of which is the rose gull, it is considered rare. Its peculiarity is that it arrives for the winter. to the Arctic, and lives in non-freezing polynyas, feeding on small fish and plankton, and flies away in the summer and nesting period at the mouths of the rivers of Yakutiawhere it produces its offspring. She has a futuristic appearance, her body is white and pink, on her neck is a dark red stripe, she uses Wrangel Island as a transit base, making flights. On the wrangel Island The only one in Russia is wild white geese, which at one time were mercilessly exterminated by the hundreds because of their meat and down and feathers.

The king of the Arctic is the polar bear.

But the main owner wrangel Islands, however, like the whole Arctic – polar bear ... Individuals reach 700 kilograms of live weight, are not afraid of frost and cold water, swim very well, have no rivals in this territory except humans, the only animal that can fight them off is a large adult walrus weighing two tons, their bears are avoided so as not to to be impaled on a canine. Mostly bears drift on ice floes, hunt seals and catch fish. Bears burdened with offspring come to Wrangel Island by November and settle in a den, where they give birth to their offspring, informally wrangel Island that's what they call it: a maternity hospital for polar bears. In April, mothers of bears with cubs leave their dens, and the process of learning to hunt and orienterate bears begins.

New life of a musk ox on Wrangel Island.

In the second half of the 20th century, American researchers brought here a herd of musk oxen, which once lived here with mammoths and other animals, finding food in the valleys of the island, the population of these animals remained only in Greenland... But zoologists were able to relocate them to the American continent, now these animals feel great on wrangel Island, their population here has increased to almost a hundred individuals, and is constantly growing. The musk ox has no opponents here, the island is a protected area, there are no hunters, and the bears do not dare to attack the herd. Now zoologists are preparing part of the herd to be transported to new habitats, to New Siberian Islands and to Chukotkahowever, there are many wolves that can destroy the herd of musk oxen. But the musk oxen brought to the mainland showed good organization when defending against an attack on a herd of wolves, adults stood in a circle, hiding females and cubs from wolves. And they themselves furiously fought off the attacks of fanged predators, the result of a three-day confrontation, the flock retreated, suffering losses, two wolves were crushed and two received serious injuries from the tusks of musk oxen, not a single musk ox was injured.

In addition to musk oxen, a large herd of reindeer lives on the island, which formed there in the 50s of the 20th century, after the expedition brought in reindeer for use as a pulling force, but some of them went inland. Since the wolf-shaped deer population limiter is wrangel Island no, they have bred and very often you can see them grazing in the valleys.

Autumn coast wrangel Islands empties, birds fly south, pregnant bears hide in dens, and other bears go to ice floes, and musk oxen and deer move inland and winter there. Only winter on the shore polar owls and polar crows, the latter chose the surroundings of the military and research village of polar explorers, and owls feed on rodents.

Rodents - Lemmings.

Lemmings unique rodents, they can find food for themselves even in deep snow, they produce offspring, during all year round, therefore, the number of their population is constantly changing, if the summer was fruitful and the number increased several times, a strange phenomenon occurs, most of them rush into the sea and swim until they drown. Researchers are not yet able to explain this behavior of small furry rodents. Predators can only benefit from such circumstances. The next year, the rodent population returns to normal and the number of predators hunting lemmings is also decreasing.

The mountain spurs of the island can be considered inaccessible, on Wrangel Island there are three mountain systems stretching from west to east, and in the summer time the water flowing down the rivers forms many rapids and waterfalls of indescribable beauty, they must be seen. The largest river on Wrangel Island is the Vodopadnaya River in its valley, herds of musk oxen and deer love to inhabit. But summer in the Arctic fleetingly, the coming winter covers the ground with snow, all who can leave the island, fly south or go to seek food in the ice. is located on the 80th parallel, north only North Pole and the deceased arctida continent, who left only genetic records in the cells of living organisms, it is not for nothing that birds fly to breed offspring in the northern latitudes, although, guided by logic, it is easier and safer for them to do this in southern countries. But such is nature, and living populations of deer and musk oxen testify to life as a source of movement, and the Arctic not such a lifeless land, here life crystallizes to a new level, bearing fruit every year.

Wrangel Island, in Chukchi The Umkilir Island of Polar Bears is located in the Arctic Ocean between the East Siberian and Chukchi Seas, 140 km. north of the coast of Chukotka.

Coordinates: 42 ° 43'48 N 133 ° 04'59 E The area of \u200b\u200bthe island is 7670 sq. Km. Highest point 1096 m.

Named after Ferdinand Wrangel, Russian explorer of the North. Included in the list of objects world heritage UNESCO

The history of the discovery of Wrangel Island

Back in the middle of the 17th century, Russian explorers heard from the inhabitants of Chukotka about an island in the Arctic Ocean where polar bears live, a lot of fur-bearing animals, and which they called "Umkilir" or the island of polar bears. In 1645, the Cossack Mikhailo Stadukhin, the founder of the Nizhnekolymsk fortress, reported: "There is a large island in the Arctic Sea, which stretches against the Yana and Kolyma rivers and is visible from the mother of the earth." Later on this island was mentioned by many Russian merchants who tried to open a new business in the north of Siberia. However, no one was able to get to this island. Because of the insurmountable ice obstacles, the daredevils were forced to return with nothing.

However, attempts to find the mysterious island did not stop. In 1711, the Siberian governor Gagarin specially organized an expedition led by Vasily Stadukhin in search of this island, but their long searches were unsuccessful. It was rumored that in 1720 the merchant Ivan Vilegin, crossing the strait on ice, was on a large island, but apart from an abandoned sled and the ruins of an old dwelling, he saw nothing. There were different bikes from local residents about the Big Island north of Chukotka, but they were not documented.

After that, almost half a century later, during the famous Bering expedition, the Siberian governor Soimonov instructed a member of the expedition, Lieutenant Colonel Plenisner, to search for an unknown island. By his decree in 1763, Plenisner sent Sergeant Andreev from Anadyr in search of the unknown island, and Nikolai Daurkin, a Russified Chukchi, supplying them with dogs, food, weapons and accompanying persons. The two groups spent over a year in search of the island.

Returning Daurkin said that “Opposite the Chukchi Peninsula lie both to the north in the Kolyma Sea and to the east in the Anadyr Sea, unknown lands. One of them is large in the north in the Kolyma Sea and is called Tikigen. Reindeer people who are called the Chukchi Khrakhoi live on it. To this he added all sorts of fables apparently heard from the Chukchi from their legends. However, his message that there is a large island to the north of Chukotka was valuable and curious. So for the first time, at least the approximate location of Wrangel Island was outlined.

In March 1763, "Geodesy Sergeant" Andreev set off accompanied by the Cossack Fyodor Tatarinov and the Yukagir Efim Konovalov. Leaving Nizhnekolymsk at the mouth of the Krestovaya River, they crossed the ice to one of the small islands. But they could not move on. Difficult conditions of movement on ice hummocks and lack of food for the dogs forced them to return back to Nizhnekolymsk with nothing.

The next year, Plenisner sent Andreev again. But the second expedition did not add anything to the available information. In a report of 1765 about Andreev's second campaign it is written: “In 1764, Sergeant Andreev from the last of the Bear Islands saw in the great distance the greatest island, where he went on ice on dogs. But, before reaching that for twenty versts, they ran into fresh tracks of an excellent number on reindeer in sleighs of unknown peoples and, being sparsely crowded, returned to Kolyma. " Andreev claimed that before turning back he saw something dark ahead, it looked like it was earth. This information about the unknown land to the north of the Siberian coast was the subject of numerous discussions, this land was even called "Andreev's Land". But no one has seen it, like the fabulous Sannikov Land.

Why is Wrangel Island called that?

In 1820 an expedition was formed, led by Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel. The terms of the expedition ordered Wrangel to find this unexplored land and make an accurate description of the Siberian coast between the Yana and Kolyma rivers and further beyond the Shelagsky Cape. The expedition was divided into two detachments: one, under the leadership of Lieutenant Anzhu, went to the Yana River, the other, under Wrangel's command, to the Kolyma River to conduct searches from two sides. For four years, members of the expedition of F. Wrangel, in incredibly difficult conditions, either by swimming, now on foot, now on dogs, examined the entire northern coast of Eastern Siberia and Chukotka. The results of the expedition were descriptions and maps of the North of Siberia, but they did not find any island.

In summer, by boat and on foot, in winter by dog \u200b\u200bsleds, they covered many thousands of kilometers. Sometimes moving away from the coast for 250-300 kilometers, Wrangel acquired a great experience of driving on drifting ice, a great experience of riding dogs. Repeatedly in search of land in the ocean, he sent his teams north. But in spite of all their efforts, they never saw the unknown island.

Although Wrangel did not find a new island, his confidence in its existence was so strong that an inscription was made on his map in a certain place: "The mountains are seen from Cape Yakon in summer." Subsequently, these coordinates coincided with the location of the island. In addition, the result of Wrangel's four-year expedition proved that Chukotka is not connected to the American coast by an isthmus and is separated by a strait. During Wrangel's expedition in the north of Yakutia, the first meteorological service worked for four years. His book "A Journey in Siberia and the Arctic Sea" was the first printed edition to cover nature, climate, animals and the life of northern people. It has spread around the world and has been translated into several languages. And the search for the unknown land continued.

In 1849, British explorer Henry Kellett discovered a new island in the Chukchi Sea. He named it Herald Island after his ship Herald. West of the island Gerald Kellett saw another island, which he mapped under the name "Land of Kellett", possibly this was the future Wrangel Island. It was on this island that the first European landed in 1866 - Captain Edward Dalman, who traded with the inhabitants of Alaska and Chukotka.

In 1867, the American whaler Thomas Long, while swimming in the Chukchi Sea, approached the shores of an unknown island that did not appear on his maps. He thought he had found this vainly sought island. At that time, the name of Ferdinand Wrangel was already widely known, he led an expedition to explore the northeastern coast of Siberia, made three voyages around the world, ruled Russian America for more than five years, and was one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. Being an educated and decent man and knowing about the many years of searching for Wrangel, giving him his due, the captain named the island in his honor. Since then, on all maps of the world, this island has become so called Wrangel Island.

Who owns Wrangel Island

At one time there were disputes about the ownership of Wrangel Island. The island is located near the coast of Russian Chukotka and has always been considered Russian. According to the treaty of 1867, between the Russian Empire and the United States, after the transfer of Alaska to America, the western border of Russia was to pass at an equal distance between the islands of Ratmanov (Russia) and Kruzenshtern (USA) along the meridian 169 ° West. longitude, and Wrangel Island is located significantly west of this meridian. This means that Wrangel Island unconditionally belongs to Russia.

However, in 1881, the Americans arrived on the island on the Thomas Corvin steam schooner and declared that the island was uninhabited, which meant it would belong to America. The captain of the ship Stefanson tried to officially approve this at the level of the Canadian and British governments, but was refused. However, the Americans did not give up their idea.

In 1911, during the Russian hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Ocean, the crew of the Vaigach steamer landed on the island, performed a topographic survey and raised the Russian flag over the island, which meant that this was Russian land.

Ten years have passed and during Civil War in Russia, the Americans and Canadians, taking advantage of the confusion, tried to take Wrangel Island into their own hands. On September 16, 1921, they established a settlement of five colonists on the island: one Canadian, two Americans and one Eskimo woman. But the poorly provided colonists quickly ran out of food, the hunt did not work, and they died, only the Eskimo Ada Blackjack survived.

The Americans did not rest on this, and on August 19, 1923, they brought another 13 settlers. Special conditions were not created for them and they lived as best they could, barely interrupting by hunting. Their life can be seen in one of the old photographs.

However, the government of the young Soviet Russia did not like the actions of the Americans, and in 1924 a hydrographic expedition was sent to the island on the ship "Red October". In difficult sailing conditions, the expedition arrived on Wrangel Island. Immediately upon arrival, the Pacific sailors hoisted the state flag of the USSR and carried out a topographic survey of the island.

After that, the illegal colonists confiscated: 38 polar bear skins, 57 polar foxes, 7 winchesters, more than 4 thousand cartridges. And the colonists themselves, for illegal hunting of fur animals and polar bears, were arrested, removed from the island and taken to Vladivostok where they were handed over to the Narkomindel. The evacuated colonists, especially women and children, removed from Wrangel Island in 1924 owe their lives to Russian sailors. They simply would not have survived another wintering.

Development of Wrangel Island.

In 1926, a group was sent to the island, led by the explorer Grigory Alekseevich Ushakov, then still a young man, later a world famous polar explorer. With them, several Eskimo families from the villages of Providence and Chaplino moved to the island. From that moment on, the settlement of Wrangel Island began. Ushakov and his colleagues founded a polar station and a village in which 59 people lived together with the settlers. The village was named Ushakovskoe.

The polar station on Wrangel Island was the first Russian meteorological station in the Arctic Circle. At that time, this was a completely modern service that was armed with the necessary equipment, devices and communications.

Ushakov lived on Wrangel Island for three years. And although every step of the pioneers who settled in this harsh land required severe tests, they withstood them until the arrival of the expedition on the icebreaker "Litke" in 1928. During his stay on the island, Grigory Ushakov walked around it all, where on dogs, where on foot. He composed the first detailed map and has collected extensive material on its nature.

Grigory Ushakov shared with the first settlers both sorrow and joy, hardships and trials. He helped them in everything, lending out weapons, hunting supplies, and food for future prey, for which he received great respect from them. In memory of their first boss, the grateful inhabitants of the island erected an obelisk.

With the arrival of the icebreaker at the polar station, the personnel changed, and Ushakov and his colleagues left for the mainland. The settlers settled on the island thoroughly. In Ushakovskoye, several houses were built, forming the only street, which was named Lenin Street.

The settlers were engaged in hunting and fishing. The island, rich in fur-bearing animals, made it possible to earn good money with good hunting in one season to provide for their families. And the families of such hunters and at that time lived quite well and their number gradually increased.

However, it was not without excesses. In 1934-35. K. Semenchuk was the head of the wintering on Wrangel Island. Being the full-fledged chief of the island, Semenchuk viewed his duties as the right of unlimited, uncontrolled command. In relation to the local population, he behaved like foreign hucksters, considered the Eskimos to be quitters and idlers and did not give them any food or ammunition for hunting weapons. Disrupting the hunt of the natives and leaving them without meat. Semenchuk at the same time refused to advance them in products, although this system was practiced on Wrangel Island under the previous chiefs and fully justified itself, since the natives always honestly paid off their debts. As a result, not many survived the winter. And at the first opportunity, many moved to the mainland. A criminal case was initiated against Semenchuk and his henchman, Startsev. The case was considered by the Supreme Court of the RSFSR in 1936. The prosecutor was Vyshinsky, and the investigator was Lev Sheinin, a writer, author of the book "Investigator's Notes". The Supreme Court sentenced both defendants to death.

After this event for more than 10 years, life on the island slowed down somewhat. The meteorological station continued to operate there, but the number of migrants did not increase. And only after the Second World War life on the island revived.

In the 1950s-1960s, two more settlements were founded - Zvezdny and Perkatkun. Several military infrastructure facilities were built. Then several more small settlements were founded for reindeer herders and hunters. The village of Ushakovsky was considered the center. In the early 1980s, about 200 people lived in Ushakovskoye - geologists, meteorologists, scientists, border guards, hunters and hunters from among the indigenous peoples of the North.

Over time, the island began to operate: a village council, a boarding school, a cinema club, a kindergarten and a boiler room, a reserve office, a museum, a store with an underground glacier for storing meat. There was a corral for the autumn corral and reindeer slaughter, a post office and a hospital. The polar station "Rogers' Bay" operated, there was a small airfield for AN-2 aircraft and MI-2, MI-6 and MI-8 helicopters. There was an air station with a fuel and lubricants warehouse and a coal storage. There was a good library in Ushakovskoye, a lighthouse was functioning, and there was electricity in the houses. Today this is all that remains of the boarding school in Ushakovsky on Wrangel Island where about 50 children once studied.

But with the beginning of perestroika in the USSR, life on the island began to fade away. In 1986, military facilities were closed, and in 1992 the radar station was also closed. Previously, good supplies have ceased and residents began to move to the mainland. In the 90s the only island remained locality - the village of Ushakovskoye, which by 2003 was also almost completely empty. The island became uninhabited. Of the local residents, the last resident of the village of Ushakovskoye, the shaman Grigory Kaurgin, remained on the island.

Life on the island began to revive only in 2010, when the work of the weather station was resumed, where 6 people work. Since that time, three reserve keepers have also lived on the island. One of them, Igor Petrovich Oleinikov, is the only person officially registered on Wrangel Island.

In 2014, hydrographic work was carried out on the island again, and a base for the Russian Pacific Fleet was established. By the end of the year, a new military town was erected for the employees of the radar post and the aviation guidance point. Today on Wrangel Island there is a military base "Polar Star" which is one of the most modern structures in the Arctic. The Russian naval flag flies over Wrangel Island again.

Reserve "Wrangel Island"

In 1976, a nature reserve was established on Wrangel Island, which includes, in addition to the island itself, the territory of the nearby Herald Island and the adjacent 12-mile sea area. The main task of this reserve is to preserve and study the fauna of the insular part of the Arctic.

The climate of the Wrangel Island Reserve is rather severe. From February to March, the temperature rarely rises above -30 degrees, and the wind accompanying blizzards reaches a speed of 40 meters per hour or more. Even in summer, there are frosts and snowfalls. Ice masses on the islands are preserved all year round.

The relief of Wrangel Island is mountainous; mountains occupy more than half of the island's territory. By the sea, they break off with rocks. In places where the banks are more gentle, there are sand and pebble spits. In addition, there are streams on the island - more than one and a half thousand, and about 900 lakes.

The Herald Island is a high outlier that breaks off from all sides into the sea with rocky steep ledges.

Vegetation of Wrangel Island

Despite the harsh conditions, the flora of Wrangel Island is quite diverse, although it is mainly low-growing shrubs, herbaceous plants and mosses. There are 417 species of vascular plants, 4 types of algae, mushrooms: russula, champignons and others on the territory of the reserve. There are 122 species of moss, several species of polar poppy, saxifrage. foxtail, forget-me-nots, starworms, valerian, buttercup, sorrel, Fischer's dupont and many other plant species.

114 species of plants are classified as rare and very rare, these are unique plants that survived after the ice age. Areas with fertile land are often covered with thickets of willows no more than 1 m in height; in other places, shrub willows spread along the ground. Some plants are endermic of Wrangel Island, such as: Gorodkov poppy, Wrangel poppy, Wrangel emyatlik, Ushakov poppy, Wrangel poppy, Lapland poppy and some others. In the short summer, the meadows of the island are torn with a continuous carpet of flowering plants that represent real relict steppes.

Fauna of Wrangel Island

Despite the harsh conditions and the scarcity of vegetation, both land and sea animals, as well as a large number of birds, live on Wrangel Island. The largest animals on Wrangel Island are polar bears, musk oxen, reindeer and walruses. Smaller animals are: polar wolves, foxes, arctic foxes and a myriad of lemmings.

The Wrangel and Herald Islands have long been chosen by polar bears for breeding here. Remoteness from the mainland, the absence of other predators made Wrangel Island a kind of maternity hospitals for these polar predators. Wrangel Island has the largest concentration of polar bear ancestral dens in the world. In the fall, polar bears from almost the entire Russian north flock to Wrangel Island, waiting for their cubs. Every winter, 300 to 500 female bears lie down in dens to breed.

In the middle of the last century, many northern regions, including Wrangel Island, began to be intensively developed. Arriving people began to actively hunt polar bears, more often not even for food, but simply out of excitement and pleasure. The number of bears began to fall sharply by so much that it threatened the complete disappearance of polar bears as a species in the Russian north.

To preserve these animals, they were listed in the Red Book and a ban on hunting was introduced. Wrangel Island itself has been declared a nature reserve. This gave noticeable results and the number of polar bears stopped decreasing. Moreover, pregnant female bears from all over the Russian Arctic region began to return to Wrangel Island. Here, nothing disturbs the peace of the bears. Where they equip their dens, any kind of activity and even just people are prohibited. As an exception, these places are visited by scientists studying the life of these animals.

Siberian and hoofed lemmings common for this region, as well as Arctic foxes, make up the bulk of land mammals.

Wolverine, fox and wolf are rarely found here. These predators on the island also have enough food.

Walruses constantly live on the island - the largest rookery of these animals is located here. The island serves as a place for them to breed. Polar bears are frequent visitors to these rookeries.

The island is home to a fairly large number of musk oxen. They were brought to the island in 1976 from Canada and they took root very well, because they had lived here before, the zeros would have been exterminated. Now there are several hundred of them and they feel great on the island.

Domesticated reindeer were brought here on purpose. They have taken root very well, over time they have run wild and now they make up some part of the island's fauna.

There are absolutely no amphibians and reptiles on the territory of the reserve, but 169 species of various birds nest here, for example, the common eider and comb, Icelandic sandpiper, peregrine falcon and gyrfalcon. By the way, on Wrangel Island there is the largest white goose colony in Eurasia.

Gray whales, fin whales, and beluga whales are not uncommon in the waters here. Sometimes bowhead whales swim.

The island is also of paleontological value - the sites of an ancient man were found here, as well as traces of the population of a small mammoth, which outlived its mainland relatives by almost 6 thousand years. By the way, mammoths lived on Wrangel Island relatively recently - only 3.6 thousand years ago.

Tourism on the island

Tourism on the island began to develop only in recent years. This is hindered significantly by its removal. Nevertheless, several tourist groups annually come to the cordon called "Doubtful Bay". Most of the travel around the island is done by ATVs.

Some people prefer to get around by quad biking or walking. Here you can visit Mount Percantun, located in the central part of the island, as well as the Paleo-Eskimo camp on the Devil's Ravine. Many excursions include the landing site of Canadian settlers at the mouth of the Predator River, and the Davydov, Predatelskaya and Popov lagoons, on which there is a hunting lodge. In cases where there is not much ice on the sea, it is possible water routes along the Doubtful Bay and Krasin Bay.

The most interesting activity during a trip around the island is contemplation of the pure northern nature and the opportunity to observe polar bears, walruses, seabirds, deer in their natural environment.

Having visited Wrangel Island you have a great opportunity to capture memorable moments and replenish your photo collection. Every day and hour spent on this wonderful island will be remembered for a lifetime. This northern edge of real, untouched nature, remote from civilization, will always beckon you to it, despite the difficulties it has overcome.