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| The Mysterious Past | |||||||||||||||||
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July 1, 2008 — Itygran & Arakamchechen Archipelago, Russia The Chukotskiy Peninsula stretches eastward nearly to the North American continent, its nearest point only a scant 50 nautical miles from the once-unknown territory that the Chukchis called “the Big Land” — Alaska. We took Zodiacs ashore to visit Itygran Island where, only decades ago, in 1976, a team of Russian anthropologists discovered an astonishing ancient memorial site nicknamed “whale bone alley,” where whale bones stretch along the beach for nearly a quarter mile. These ceremonial sites include immense jawbones and ribs of bowhead whales, some placed together to create stunning arch formations. |
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| While Joan went birding, I photographed flowers and climbed to the ridge to visit the burial site. Later John Schoen gave a lecture entitled: Wildlife of the Bering Sea.
After lunch because walrus frequent the area, we hoped to view a haul-out in the Arakamchechen Archipelago. Unfortunately our scouts were unable to locate any walrus and instead the ship cruised a nearby fiord while some passengers basked in the Arctic landscape. |
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