Arctic Ocean Discoverer departs Anadyr for Wrangel Island, via the Arakamchechen Archipelago, visiting World Heritage-listed Whalebone Alley and Chukchi villages. Bering Strait, gateway to the Arctic, gives access to the rugged Chukotka coast, alive with migratory birds. Ice permitting, we explore Wrangel Island Nature Reserve, with its scientific research station, Inuit settlement and the greatest diversity of plants and animals of any Arctic Island.

Wrangel Island, Russia’s treasured wildlife sanctuary, features some 400 plant species, polar bears and cubs, vast walrus breeding grounds, reindeer herds, Arctic fox, lemmings, seals and multitudes of migratory birds. Almost 24 hours’ daylight and retreating pack ice make this the ideal time of year to attempt reaching Wrangel Island. We pass through Bering Strait, watch for beluga whales, experience traditional life of the Chukchi people and explore the Chukotka coast west along the Northeast Passage. We return through the Diomedes Islands, famous for their role in the Cold War.

Excitement mounts as we transfer from airport and expedition staff greet us on Anadyr’s wharf in the afternoon. We settle in on Akademik Shokalskiy before sailing downriver and into the Bering Sea.

Walrus and gray whales stir the waters of Arakamchechen Archipelago and weather dictates our landings. On Itygran Island, Whalebone Alley is an avenue of raised bowhead and gray whale ribs and jawbones, believed to be an ancient ceremonial site of Chukchi hunters. At Yanrakinnot, we meet modern-day Chukchis who still live a traditional lifestyle – herding reindeer, fishing and hunting. Parakeet auklets, horned puffins and pomarine jaegers herald the feast of bird life to come. On board, our lecturers and naturalists begin their entertaining presentations to inform us of the area’s wildlife, geology and history.

Beluga whales may appear as we pass through Bering Strait, where Russia and North America are but 100-kilometres apart. If conditions allow, we land at Cape Dezhnev, easternmost point of Eurasia, to visit an abandoned polar research station and indigenous settlement atop windswept cliffs. After lunch, local crafts and a small museum displaying traditional Chukchi and Inuit clothing, artwork and ivory carvings feature in Uelen village. Late afternoon we cross the Arctic Circle on the international dateline, the chance to straddle two continents, two time zones and two oceans at once, before continuing north into one of the least-visited corners of the Arctic Ocean.

Wild and untouched, the Kolyluchinskaya Estuary is ancient tundra between the Amguena and Vankarem Rivers along Chukotka’s north coast. In Zodiacs we search for ringed seals and whales, while on land we hike amongst tundra flowers and watch for yellow-billed loons, tufted puffins and the endemic emperor geese. Our Russian crew and expedition leader assess the pack ice to determine our chances of visiting Wrangel Island.

We thread our way amongst ice floes, searching for a route to Wrangel Island. Weather and ice pose challenges, but we’ve timed our run to give us the best possible chance. If conditions allow, we land and meet local scientists, who guide us into the vast nature reserve that protects the high Arctic’s greatest biodiversity of plants and animals. Fuelled by the midnight sun, the tundra bursts with life. Inland hills have a high concentration of polar bear dens, and we may see mothers and cubs. We hike across vast alpine valleys, where reindeer, musk ox and Arctic fox live and fossilised remains of woolly mammoth may be found. Zodiacs carry us across Inuit fishing grounds to search for walrus and grey whales

Returning to the rugged Chukotka coast, we first head west toward the port of Pevek to explore the celebrated North East Passage for several days. This is expedition cruising at its best, searching for new tundra walks, Zodiac trips and Yupik and Inuit villages. Our return through the Chukchi Sea promises fresh discoveries and a visit to Cape Vankarem, one of northeastern Russia’s largest walrus haulouts.

We pass through Bering Strait on the lookout for orca and beluga whales, setting a course through the Diomedes Islands, a Cold War hotspot. We hope to visit Arakamchechen Island, home to guillemots, tufted puffins and crested auklets.

Our grand adventure behind us, we dock early at Anadyr, bid farewell to our travelling companions and transfer to airport.