Wow! FOILED by ice again. :(. They have chopped off most of the Arctic Ocean cruising. We are losing Laptev Straight, De Long Islands, and any mention of Ice Edge Cruising. I also can't find any details (or location) on Chetyrekhstolbovoy Island. Oh well, understand ice issues but at least they can be upfront; i.e., they don't want to take an ice class ship through ice without ice breaker in reserve.
This site image won't copy properly and I don't know how to make a screenshot and post here so you can see forecasted ice conditions by going to this site:
http://www.arctic-lio.com/nsr_iceSelect Northeast Passage - East
Select ice conditions (may be preset)
Select forecast and go out to last forecast currently 27 July
You will be able to see that the East Siberian Sea is supposed to be iced in four days before we are supposed to arrive at Ayon Island (Ayon and Pevek are both ice free).
edited to add: Found all the Arctic stops; it is clear that they don't want to travel too far; we are going only a few hundred miles between refueling on 31 July and 8 August; we went a lot longer than that without refueling on Northwest Passage.
edited further to add: Here is the description for the two stops on 2 Aug in Medvezhyi Islands:
Silver Explorer will continue to sail through the Gulf of Kolyma. Our goal is to visit the Medvezhyi Islands (=Bear Islands), an uninhabited group of islands at the western side of the Gulf of Kolyma. It is not so much the bears, but the flora and geology that make these six islands so famous. This will be one of the places visited by us that were described by Nordenskjold in 1878. Despite the fact that fast ice surrounds the islands during much of the year, fishing is done near the islands. On Chetyrokstolbovoy flowers, lichen, mosses and mushrooms will be everywhere, but if we can land we will also see the abandoned weather station and will walk to the imposing rock spires –a round-trip distance about five kilometres to the top of the nearby hill. The major feature of them has been compared to a human couple. The height of up to 30 metres makes these geological features quite impressive and gave the island its name: Four-spires-island. A large field of boulders surrounds the spires, increasing in size with decreasing distance from the centre.
Going ashore at another of the islands we want to enjoy walking on lush grass, among ponds and many flowers and seeing the many large, frost-created mounds. Herds of reindeer can sometimes be observed, as well as the remains of human habitation, usually small semi-underground dwelling.
Here is the wikipedia information on Gerald Island, added to the five Wrangel Island stops:
Herald Island (Russian: ОÑтров Геральд, Ostrov Gerald) is a small, isolated Russian island in the Chukchi Sea, 70 km (43 mi) to the east of Wrangel Island. It rises in sheer cliffs, making it quite inaccessible, either by ship or by plane. The only sliver of accessible shoreline is at its northwestern point, where the cliffs have crumbled into piles of loose rocks and gravel. Its area is 11.3 km2 (4.36 sq mi) and the maximum height above sea level is 364 m (1,194 ft). The island is unglaciated and uninhabited.
Herald Island belongs administratively to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation. Along with Wrangel Island, Herald Island is part of the Wrangel Island Wildlife Preserve, a Russian National Park, since 1976. Cape Dmitrieva on Herald Island, marks the easternmost limits of the nature reserve.
Herald Island is named after survey vessel HMS Herald, from which the island was discovered in 1849.
Here are Silversea descriptions of the places that have been dropped from itinerary:
The Dimitri Laptev Strait connects the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea and separates the Siberian mainland from the New Siberian Islands. The New Siberian Islands had already been seen and visited in the early 18th century by Russian explorers and on Lyakovsky’s southeastern side is a meteorological station.
The study of Lyakhovsky is quite famous for its cliffs, landscape and fossil finds. There are several indications that the islands had been visited thousands of years ago, and when the sea level was 100-120 metres lower that today the islands would have been part of the Great Arctic Plain.
We plan to go ashore and have a look at the islands landscape and flora –mainly grasses, sedges and mosses. Prehistoric bones, shells and plant material have been well-preserved because of permafrost and tusks of mammoth and other megafauna’s remains –including sabre-toothed tigers- have been found on the island.
Ice Edge Cruising - Imagine being surrounded on all sides by glistening sea ice on top of dark, frigid waters. The sound of the ship’s bow crunching through the crusty rime carries on the crisp air with a resounding echo. Perhaps in the distance the expedition team spots an inconsistency of color on the ice – a vaguely yellow patch against the bright white of the snow. Excitement on deck grows as the ship draws closer, and with baited breath it becomes obvious to all aboard that a polar bear is plodding along, jumping from floe to floe, in its eternal quest for the next meal.
The small De Long Islands are an uninhabited archipelago north of the New Siberian Islands and are covered partially by claciers. Both the De Long Islands and New Siberian Islands were hills of the Great Arctic Plain. The De Long Islands are some of the last-discovered islands in the East Siberian Sea and received their name through the ill-fated American expedition led by De Long on the Jeannette. Although discovered by De Long and claimed for the US in 1881, these islands - as they are not part of Alaska - are part of Russia.
One place added to itinerary is Yttygran; here is Silversea description from previous itinerary:
Yttygran offers a unique natural history experience on this voyage. An array of bowhead whale bones and rock arrangements is stunning – it is a place of great archaeological importance combined with natural beauty. An early morning landing will add to the magic and mystery of the place due to the soft hues and the muffled light conditions. For the more energetic passengers a hike up the steep nearby hill provides an excellent leg stretch.
Here "was" the map of our itinerary:
![[Linked Image]](https://www.silversea.com/content/dam/silversea-com/api-provided/cruises/alaska-cruise/nome-to-nome-7816/ECM_253559_7816_EN.jpg)
Everything to the west and north of Medvezhiy Islands has been deleted.
One other note, although notice from Silversea says they added Chetyrekhstolbovoy Island, it was already on the itinerary under Medvezhiy Islands (it is one of the six islands and the new itinerary has same length of time and names the two islands to be seen).
Here is the introduction to the wikipedia page on Pevek:
Pevek (Russian: ПевеÌк; Chukchi: ПÑÑкин / ПÑÑк) is an Arctic port town and the administrative center of Chaunsky District in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on Chaunskaya Bay (part of the East Siberian Sea) on a peninsula on the eastern side of the bay facing the Routan Islands, above the Arctic Circle, about 640 kilometers (400 mi) northwest of Anadyr, the administrative center of the autonomous okrug. Population: 4,162 (2010 Census);[4] 5,206 (2002 Census);[10] 12,915 (1989 Census).[11] with an estimated population as at 1 January 2015 of 4,721.
Pevek is the northernmost town in Russia and in Asia. It is a modern settlement established after World War I to provide a port for the export of minerals as part of the expanding Northern Sea Route. During the 1940s and 1950s, the area surrounding Pevek was the site of several gulags where prisoners mined uranium. In recent years, many of the mines became unprofitable and have closed, causing many residents to move to more central regions in Russia and the port infrastructure to decay.
And a follow on paragraph regarding the Gulags:
The workforce for the mines that provided the Soviet Union with tin and uranium throughout the large parts of the 20th century were prisoners in the Gulag system.[7] There was a network of camps in the region itself, through which an uncertain number of criminal and political prisoners passed.[7] There are the remains of two large camps, "North" and "West", which continued to supply uranium during and after World War II. Barracks dot the landscape and have the appearance of being hastily abandoned.[7] Large graveyards on the edge of the various encampments show that a large proportion of those sent to work in the mines did not survive.[7]
Maybe we can take a tour of the gulags on our two days in Pevek; would be interesting to search the graveyards. On the other hand, here is the trip advisor page for things to do in Pevek:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...onomous_Region_Far_Eastern_District.htmlWeather forecast for Ayon Island while we are there:
https://www.accuweather.com/en/ru/ayon/2497632/daily-weather-forecast/2497632?day=16Pevek should be similar as they are on opposite sides of a bay. Temps about 15 degrees below normal but still pleasant.
NASA satellite image of current ice conditions are here:
https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.go...6490149,5119983.318005538&r=-90.0000You can pick out Wrangel Island just northwest of Alaska. Ice beginning to break up around Wrangel but East Siberian Sea still pretty much covered.
Marc
