Wrangel Island

The World visited Wrangel Island as the first foreign-flagged ship to do so in Russian history. It was a spectacular opportunity to see polar bears and walruses in the wild. Very few people have visited this island period; it's high in the Arctic Circle and is only reachable during the warmest months of the year.

The first photo is a pair of islands that we passed between when approaching Wrangel. One of them (the far one) is owned by the United States, and the near one by Russia.

View of The World from my Zodiac skiff as we approached the island for sightseeing.



Click the picture to enlarge. Scroll left to see the polar bear and right to see the other Zodiac boat full of onlookers.



My friend Juan, of the Canary Islands

Preparing to approach a group of walruses

Note the polar bear swimming to the right.




Heading back to the ship