Who discovered the Commander Islands and when: features of the northern lands. Guide to Russia Who lives on the Commander Islands

Numbers

Economy

Climate and weather

Attractions

• Vitus Bering's grave
• Aleutian Museum of Local Lore
• Fur seal rookery "North-West"
• State Nature Reserve "Commander"

Curious facts

Steller's cow is an extinct marine mammal of the sirenian order, length up to 10 m, weight up to 4 tons. By the time of the Bering expedition, it was not found anywhere on earth except the Commander Islands. 27 years after the discovery of the islands, this sedentary herbivore was completely exterminated. The description compiled by the naturalist Georg Steller, who found it, and the name of the cape on the island have been preserved. Bering, named in her honor.

Male fur seals - cleavers - secure areas of 20-25 mg for a “harem”, each of them with up to 100 females.

During the Soviet era, from the Kamchatka Peninsula to the Commander Islands, in the village. Nikolskoye, there was a regular passenger ship "Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky", capable of accommodating the entire population of the islands.

At the beginning of the 19th century. the Commanders had their own Robinson: a certain Yakov Mynkov spent on the island. Bering completely alone for seven years without tools or fire.

Russia is a huge country that surprises everyone not only with its diverse natural beauties, but also with a large number of different attractions. The main assets of this country most often include its vast expanses; one of the most interesting places within the country is the Commander Islands.

Yes, this is by no means a standard vacation: beach, sea, and all-inclusive. Rather, a trip to the Commander Islands is for those who crave something unusual, the most vivid impressions, both from the trip itself and from the inspection. From the article you will learn about holidays on the Commander Islands: how to get there and what to see? Perhaps, after reading about this stunning corner of our country, you will want to go there in 2019.

Brief historical background

The first European travelers reached the Commander Islands not so long ago by the standards of universal history: in the 18th century. These were members of Russian expeditions to Kamchatka, they were shipwrecked there. The main island of the archipelago was named in honor of the expedition commander, Vitus Bering. Bering himself died during this journey, but part of his team began exploring new territories, which was subsequently continued by other scientists.

Subsequently, not only researchers, but also businessmen appeared on the islands: thanks to the rich wildlife, various crafts developed here. Aleuts appeared on the islands, whom the combined forces of Russian and American businessmen imported as workers.

After the transfer of Alaska, oddly enough, the Commander Islands remained part of Russia. Many years passed before humanity reached the understanding that rare animals should not be exterminated uncontrollably, but should be preserved and the population size controlled. Currently, fisheries on the islands are still part of the activity, however, nature reserves have also been created, and the islands are no longer visited by discoverers or businessmen, but by tourists who want to visit an unusual place and see a completely different, protected world.

Brief geographical information and climate

The islands are located on the eastern side of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Due to the fact that these land areas are located in the northern part of the cold Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean, the climate on their territory is quite changeable and very harsh. Therefore, you can often hear that the Commanders are the land of “fog and wind.” It rains there very often and strong winds blow. Weather conditions on one island may differ significantly from weather conditions on another, and the weather tends to change several times during the day.

In winter on the islands, the average temperature on the islands is five degrees below zero, but can drop to twenty degrees below zero, and in summer the average thermometer reading is ten degrees above zero. It is better, of course, to go to the islands in the summer. The islands are not places where you can see the usual city life, since the only populated area on the archipelago is a village called Nikolskoye. It is home to less than 1,000 people - Russians and Aleuts.

Commander Islands on the map

Planning a trip to the Commander Islands: transport, accommodation, permission

How to get there?

For tourists wishing to get to the Commander Islands, this will not be so easy, since the small plane that transports travelers there flies only once a week, and one of the important conditions is the presence of good weather. However, the presence of all these difficulties has never stopped tourists from other cities and countries, and those people who have visited the Commander Islands at least once believe that every person should see this amazing land.

Firstly, there are specially organized tours to the Commander Islands. The cost of such offers is quite high for tours in Russia. So, you can book a 12-day summer tour to the Commander Islands for about 150,000 rubles. However, this amount will include:

• accommodation in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky;
• transfer to the village of Nikolskoye and all other movements;
• nutrition;
• excursions;
• rental of necessary equipment;
• medical insurance;
• all necessary permissions from the authorities.

When purchasing a tour to Commanders, air tickets to Kamchatka will have to be paid separately.

It must be said that the guides’ suggestions in this case are very justified: after all, if the tourist is not prepared and has not made such trips, it may even be dangerous for him to make such a trip without a guide.

But since there are also those who have already traveled on fairly stressful trips, you need to know how you can get to the Commander Islands on your own. You need to buy an air ticket to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The cost of a ticket from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in August will be approximately 25,000 rubles (one way per person).

In three hours from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky or Ust-Kamchatsk by plane you can reach the village of Nikolskoye, which is located 4 kilometers from the airport. You will have to get acquainted with the website of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky airport in advance to understand when the plane will take off.

Another option is a trip by sea. From the seaport of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the Commander Islands, tourists are delivered by the motor ship "Vasily Zavoiko", the travel time will be at least thirty-six hours (depending on weather conditions, it may increase).

Where to stay?

Planning an independent trip to the Commander Islands will be difficult also because numerous hotels, inns and other delights do not await tourists there. No, in this corner of wild nature there is only one settlement - the village of Nikolskoye, where the only Vitus Bering hotel was opened just a couple of years ago.

In principle, you can try to find local residents in advance by correspondence and agree to rent a corner for a certain time. However, what you need to know is that to thoroughly explore all corners of the islands, you will have to spend the night in camping conditions. To do this, you must either be part of an organized group, or be a very, very prepared and experienced tourist.

Permission to visit

A fairly large part of the islands is occupied by the Komandorsky State Natural Biosphere Reserve. In order to simply be on its territory, you must obtain special permission from the administration. Tourist groups who book a tour to the islands receive this permit among other paid services, but you can also obtain it yourself.

Tourists need permission to visit the territory for the purpose of educational ecotourism; they will also need to obtain paper separately for photo and video shooting. To obtain such permission, it is necessary to contact the administration of the reserve through official contacts in advance, even before making a trip.

Sights of the Commander Islands

So, the tourist overcame all obstacles. What awaits brave travelers on the Commander Islands?

It must be said that the village of Nikolskoye is the only stronghold of civilization among wild nature. But the stronghold is very modest: there are shops, a hospital, a bank, as well as the Aleutian Museum of Local Lore. The latter is definitely worth a look: learn more about the history of the discovery of the islands, travelers, Vitus Bering, the further history of this region, the Aleuts, the nature of the islands.

The anchored ship of the Second Kamchatka Expedition under the leadership of the main associate of the ruler of the Russian Empire, Vitus Bering, is considered a historical landmark of the islands. Also on the islands there is a reconstructed site of that same expedition, as well as the grave of the great explorer himself.

But the most important thing about the Commander Islands is their nature.

Today, the reserve is home to more than four hundred species and about forty subspecies of plants. They tend to be located on the so-called border of the natural zone of western and eastern flora and fauna.

So, on the islands you can see stunning rookeries of fur seals - these cute and beautiful animals live their lives on the shore, and tourists should only quietly observe and, with permission, take photographs. In addition to fur seals, tourists on the Commander Islands can expect, among others:

• humpback whales;
• sperm whales;
• porpoises;
• arctic foxes;
• Birds, fish, invertebrates abound.

Tourists usually do not miss the opportunity to visit local bays. The most famous of them are Podutesnaya and Poludennaya bays. In addition to the most interesting relief and landscape, in Podutesnaya you can admire the vibrant northern flora, waterfalls, an abundance of birds and fish, as well as sea lions, sea otters, and anturs. There is a station in Poludennaya Bay where scientists observe such powerful animals as whales and killer whales. An interesting place on the islands is the Steller Arch, a natural monument of unusual shape, named after the famous naturalist Georg Steller.

Medny Island will delight lovers of landscapes - the rocks on it are lushly overgrown with grass, the island is rich in grottoes and hills, gorges and waterfalls and is generally considered the most picturesque of the entire island group of the Commander Islands. The islands of Ariy Kamen and Toporkov are home to a very large bird colony: puffin puffins, puffins, cormorants and other birds of local latitudes.

Features of traveling to the Commander Islands

You must immediately understand that such a journey will not be easy in any case. You will have to spend a lot of effort and money both on its planning and implementation. It is necessary to take into account all the nuances: how to get there (purchase tickets in advance, but be prepared for the fact that, for example, due to weather conditions you will have to stay on the islands); where and how to live; be sure to take care of communications and carefully collect everything necessary, but not unnecessary; check your health and have the necessary medications with you.

Of course, the islands are currently inhabited by scientists, reserve workers, and villagers from Nikolskoye, so they cannot be called completely uninhabited, yet this is not a trip to the desert where there is not a soul. In the village you can easily buy food and spend the night; local residents and reserve staff are usually friendly to inquisitive and polite tourists; a big advantage is that this is Russia, which means there will be no language problems. But if you have planned a trip to the Commander Islands, you must immediately understand that such a trip is not carried out for the sake of relaxation in comfort, but for the sake of knowledge, acquaintance with wild nature, and in some ways, even overcoming oneself.

However, if you decide to go on a trip to the Commander Islands, you will not regret it. After all, no other place will give you such pure impressions of pristine and exotic northern nature!

One of the tragic pages of the chronicle of the heroic voyages of Russian sailors of the mid-18th century. In the spring of 1741, two sailing ships, the packet boats St. Peter and St. Paul, set off from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the shores of North America. This was the 2nd Kamchatka Expedition, commanded by Captain-Commander Vitus Bering, a native of Denmark, an officer of the Russian fleet. He was the captain of the packet boat "St. Peter", and the "St. Paul" was captained by Alexey Chirikov. Soon after leaving Peter and Paul Bay, the ships fell into thick fog and lost sight of each other. They continued their further journey separately. "St. Paul" reached the shores of North America and by the fall safely returned to Petropavlovsk.

The fate of the packet boat “St. Peter” was completely different. Researchers point out that the main misfortune of the expedition was the “malicious” map of the French scientist Joseph Nicolas Delisle, who then served in the Russian Academy of Sciences. The map showed the hypothetical land of Juan de Gama, and Bering was instructed to find this land. “The Delisle map,” the navigator of the “St. Peter” Sven Weksel later wrote, “was incorrect and deceitful, because otherwise we had to jump over the land of Juan de Gama... My blood boils every time I remember the shameless deception , into which we were introduced by this incorrect card, as a result of which we risked our lives and good name. Because of this card, almost half of our team died in vain.”

Bering's ship nevertheless reached the island, behind which the mainland of North America was visible, and set off on the return journey on the same course. The storms became more and more violent every day. The sailing equipment was worn out, the hull of the packet boat was loosened. Scurvy began among the crew. Many sailors died from hunger and disease, and the rest were so weak that they were unable to keep watch. Bering also fell ill; he could no longer go on deck. The situation was desperate. The almost uncontrollable ship sailed at the mercy of the waves and wind.

On November 4, 1741, land appeared on the horizon. The joy of the people knew no bounds. Everyone who was somehow still able to stand on their feet climbed onto the deck. The treeless land was mistaken for Kamchatka; Bering was not sure that it was Kamchatka, but still gave the command to land on the shore.

Thick low clouds did not allow the coordinates of the land to be determined using navigation instruments. A member of the expedition, scientist-naturalist Georg Steller, drew attention to the uniqueness of the flora and fauna of the coast. Many blue foxes gathered near the landing people. The animals were not at all afraid of humans. All this allowed Steller to assume that the land on which they landed was an unknown, uninhabited island. Later, he climbed to the top of a nearby high mountain and saw that they were indeed on an island. This discovery greatly upset the expedition members. The situation was extremely difficult. The sick sailors died one after another, and scurvy continued to kill them on the ground. The winter cold was setting in, and the team's clothes turned into rags.

By spring, only a little more than half of the ship's crew remained alive. The survivors have already recovered somewhat from the disease. They lived in sand pits, insulated with skins and covered with the remains of sails. They ate partridge meat, of which there were incredibly many. Steller, who knew herbs and their healing properties, prepared medicinal decoctions.

The team stayed on the island for about ten months. During this time, Steller compiled a scientific description of the local fauna and flora. He was the first to describe fur seals, whose rookeries are still considered perhaps the main attraction of the Commander Islands, sea lions, giving them the name sea lions. His unique description of the now exterminated sea cow is priceless. She lived in the only place on the globe - on the Commander Islands. Steller (as the legend says) was the first to climb to the highest point of Bering Island (this height was later named Mount Steller) and discovered another island in the northeast, which was later called Copper Island because native copper was found on it.

In the spring, the surviving members of the expedition built a small ship (hooker) from the wreckage of the packet boat and the forest thrown up by the sea, which delivered them to the Peter and Paul Harbor in fifteen days.

After the opening of the Commander Islands became the scene of predatory raids by industrialists. Enterprising merchants quickly plundered the fur riches of the islands. All the ships passing by sought to replenish water and food supplies here. As a result, after 27 years, Steller’s cow was completely destroyed. A huge beast with very tasty meat and nutritious fat turned out to be completely defenseless against humans. The sea cow ate algae and stayed close to the shore, sometimes remaining on the reefs at low tide. Steller's cormorant was also exterminated. The rarest sea otter, the sea otter, is on the verge of extinction.

Industrialists also visited Komandor Bay, where Bering’s expedition spent the winter. They took away the remains of equipment and cargo, almost completely destroying traces of the discoverers' stay and wintering. But they could not or did not want to take away the guns from the packet boat “St. Peter”. Stacked, these cannons lay on the shore for many years. They were gradually covered with sand. In 1936 they reappeared and were photographed. These photographs are kept in the Aleutian Museum of Local Lore in the village of Nikolskoye on Bering Island. In 1944, after a strong storm, cannons appeared on the shore again. Two of them were transported by dogs to Nikolskoye. Then one was sent to Denmark, the homeland of Vitus Bering, and the other to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where it stands in front of the museum building.

They tried to find the rest of the guns many times: they simply dug with shovels, divers went under the water, searched with mine detectors, but neither the guns nor their traces have yet been found.

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Russia is amazing not only for its world-famous beauties and monuments. The main asset of our country is its endless open spaces, the opportunity to travel in places where there are no crowds of tourists. One of these remote corners is the Commander Islands. It’s quite difficult to find them on the map, and you can only get here from Kamchatka, on a small plane that flies once a week, and even then only in case of good weather, which rarely happens here. And yet, despite all the difficulties, this region is worth seeing!

Commander Islands: geographical location

The Commanders are located off the eastern coast of Kamchatka in the Bering Sea; in a geological sense, they are a continuation of the Archipelago. The archipelago formally consists of a large number of land areas surrounded by water, but only four of them can be fully called islands: Medny, Beringa, Ariy Kamen and Toporkov. Otherwise, the Commander Islands are rocks sticking out of the water (they are also called stones), unsuitable for human life. There are ten such stones in total, but these are only those that have their own names, because in the adjacent waters there are dozens more nameless cliffs. The relief of the Commanders is mostly mountainous, with minor flat areas and very sparse vegetation characteristic of tundra areas. But there are also small fresh rivers and lakes, berries and cereals grow here.

Climatic features

Since the archipelago is located in the cold Bering Sea, the weather here is very capricious and harsh. It’s not for nothing that the Commander Islands are called the land of winds and fogs! The climate in the region is rainy and windy, and the weather can change several times a day and differ from island to island. Summers are usually cool, up to 15 degrees Celsius (over the entire period of observation, the maximum temperature value was 24 degrees), winters are cold, with temperatures down to -24 degrees, which, together with the piercing wind blowing from the Pacific Ocean, creates very difficult conditions for local residents . Despite this weather, the ocean does not freeze in winter.

Commander Islands attractions

Commanders is not at all the place where you can come to look at city life. There is only one settlement on the archipelago - the village of Nikolskoye, and the population of all the islands does not reach even a thousand people. But we can say with confidence that these places are a natural storehouse. There are no large centers here, industry is not developed, and people coexist peacefully with nature. Back in 1993, a biosphere reserve was opened on the archipelago, and today it has about four hundred species and forty subspecies of vascular plants. Unique endemic species of fish, birds and animals are also found here.

Ethnographic objects

The Commander Islands also have a number of historical attractions. It was here, at Cape Commander, that the ship “St. Peter” of the Kamchatka expedition, led by the famous associate of Emperor Peter the Great, Vitus Bering, anchored. According to the ruler’s idea, he had to find an isthmus or strait, which was the natural border of two continents. The ship's crew was forced to stay here for nine long months and fight for survival all this time. Vitus Bering himself could not withstand the adversity - he was buried on one of the islands. Later, a subsequent expedition found the grave, a memorial cross was installed on it, and a piece of land was named after the famous traveler and captain. It is worth warning those who are planning to come to the Commander Islands and want to see in person the grave of a Dane who served the Russian sovereign that the memorial can easily be confused with an ordinary memorial cross installed nearby.

What else interesting in terms of history are hidden in the Commander Islands? Vacationers are invited to explore the houses that were built by American sailors at the beginning of the 20th century. They, like Russian sailors, came to these places for fish and sea animals, because sea otters, seals, and whales pass here every year, so there is something to profit from.

Flora and fauna

Every year the Commander Islands become the object of ornithological expeditions. The fact is that dozens of species of seabirds nest on the archipelago, and certain species of marine mammals also set up rookeries and raise their offspring. A variety of representatives of birds flock to the islands, and their hubbub spreads across the surface of the ocean for hundreds of meters around. There are unique ones here: the Commander's Arctic fox, Aleutian tern, pulmonary lobaria, and others. The most striking (in every sense of the word) representatives of the local fauna are rightfully puffin puffins, also called commanding parrots. Against the backdrop of dull landscapes, their colors are especially bright. In honor of these birds, one of the largest islands in the archipelago was named Toporkov.

Types of tourism

The village of Nikolskoye is the “capital” of the Commanders and, as already noted, the only populated area on the archipelago. This is the place where the Aleuts live compactly - the people who settled the Commander Islands even before the arrival of the Russians. Tourism here is aimed specifically at studying the native traditions and life of the indigenous people, although they had long ago (at the beginning of the 19th century) adopted Russian culture and Orthodoxy. Nikolskoye hosts performances for visitors: Aleuts dress in national clothes made from skins and play musical instruments made from animal body parts. Everyone can try on beads made from shells, look at the hunting tools and household items of the islanders.

Vanishing culture

Modern commanders live in exactly the same way as their ancestors - by fur and sea fishing. But, unfortunately, a sad trend has recently been noticed: the number of speakers of the Aleut language decreases naturally every year, traditions are lost and replaced by modern ones, the local population ceases to pass on the folklore treasures of their people to younger generations. Therefore, you should hurry to visit the Commander Islands in order to still have time to experience the real native island culture.

Aleutian Museum of Local Lore

This is the main center of scientific life of the archipelago. Here is one of the eleven remaining skeletons of a sea cow in the world, which lived on the Commanders before they became a fishing ground: the animals were exterminated literally within forty years. They did not have the means to fight for existence, and therefore could not survive. According to various expeditions, they weighed up to two hundred pounds, and their body length reached nine meters.

S. Pasenyuk Art Museum

In Nikolskoye there is a private museum on the Far East - Sergei Pasenyuk. All sorts of exhibits from the places he visited are collected here. On all souvenirs and printed products dedicated to the Commanders, you can see sketches and photographs by Pasenyuk, demonstrating either a signpost with a seal skull at the top - a symbol of the islands; that statue “Running on the Waves,” depicting an angel who brings light to ships at sea.

Hard to Find Commanders

What else can you do while traveling through the archipelago besides contemplating the mesmerizing beauty of the ocean and wildlife? This question is difficult to answer. There are no other holiday options on the Commander Islands. Here you are unlikely to be able to get acquainted with exotic and colorful cuisine, because all products are imported from Kamchatka. The most you can count on is to buy a few kilograms of red caviar or the meat of some pinniped animal at a relatively low price. There is also no basic tourist infrastructure on the archipelago, so visitors do not stay here for more than one or two days. Travelers live either in self-brought tents or in dilapidated houses. The Commander Islands are a border zone, this should not be forgotten. There is a fairly strict access regime here. In addition, this is mostly a nature reserve, so boats and vessels are not allowed here without permission. So diving won't work either. And the weather, I must say, is not favorable.

Finally

Commanders is a place for those who are attracted by truly wild nature without any civilization around. These are inhospitable and inaccessible islands, but they are still beautiful! The seething ocean, rolling onto the rocks with its mighty waves; thousands of birds and sea animals - all this allows desperate wanderers to feel like Robinsons, real pioneers. Undoubtedly, a trip to the Commander Islands will remain in the memory of everyone who spent at least a few hours here for the rest of their lives.