Kamchatka 2008

Short films on the expedition

2008-10-13T16:01:00.001+01:00

Dr Eichhorn appears in a series of short films discussing the expedition
on the Test Tube website. There are also some photos and video clips
recorded on the expedition.

http://www.test-tube.org.uk/videos/pages_markus_russia_debrief1.htm

Test Tube will be following Dr Eichhorn throughout the rest of the year to track progress in the analysis, interpretation and publication of the expedition data.

New photos

2008-09-24T18:20:00.001+01:00

Some photos have now been added to the website on the Gallery page. Click on the text bubble
to see captions with some explanation.

The long flight home

2008-09-09T21:30:00.001+01:00

We're now ready to depart on the arduous flight back to the UK, which will occupy us for the next 24 hours, after which we will no doubt be completely exhausted. After the stresses of the last week we're all very keen to return to our families and home comforts.

Once back in the UK, this blog will continue to be updated on any news related to the expedition. Please also look out for the reports, photographs, publications and data from the expedition, which will all be posted online once they are available.

All in Petropavlovsk

2008-09-08T04:02:00.001+01:00

The group have arrived safely in Petropavlovsk, having been
transferred by helicopter on Saturday afternoon. Kim was then whisked
off to the local hospital where she has been receiving treatment and
is now fit to travel back with the rest of the group as planned. The
good news is that her injuries are not too serious and she should be
able to make a full recovery. Only a few more days and we'll all be
back home.

We're particularly grateful to the staff of Bystrinsky Nature Park for
all their help in organising things for us both in Esso and
Petropavlovsk.

Update on incident

2008-09-05T10:12:00.001+01:00

It seems plenty of people have heard about the accident on the expedition, so this is only a brief update. We have been evacuated by helicopter to Esso village, where our casualty has been treated, and is now resting while we arrange to move them on to the hospital in the regional capital, Petropavlovsk. It's a relatively straightforward injury so we don't anticipate any complications and they should make a full recovery. The rest of the team are tired and hungry but otherwise fine. Everyone performed magnificently in an extremely stressful situation, especially our medical officer. All families at home have been contacted.

Please direct media enquiries to the Press Office of the University of Nottingham who will be updated with any news.

Fieldwork finished

2008-08-31T23:14:00.002+01:00

As of yesterday, we've completed the main work of the expedition. The celebratory spirit was dampened somewhat as several of us are suffering from mild gastric problems, but we're still relieved to have it out of the way. The remaining six days in the Park will be spent on an exploratory trip westwards. There is a lake some 40 km west, over the mountains, and we have hired a guide and horses to take us there. The plan is to spend two days travelling out, a day exploring the area, then another two days to return via another pass. It will serve as a break from the data collection, a chance to see some completely different types of vegetation, and perhaps an opportunity to look for a focus for the next expedition! I'll certainly be collecting plenty of plant specimens en route and making lots of notes.

At the rubbish dump

2008-08-25T07:14:00.001+01:00

We've spent the last few days working in forests on a ridge above the village tip, which is a less than salubrious place to be deposited by our transport at the start of each working day. It's ironic that only fifteen minutes walk uphill brings us into some of the best mixed forest remaining in the valley. Fortunately the weather has improved dramatically over the last few days, such that we're now blessed with a bright warm evening and hoping for more of the same tomorrow. As a result, we've nearly completed another plot, and should be able to apply the finishing touches tomorrow.

Our plan then takes us back to the east and the lowland forests near the confluence of the Bystrya and Kamchatka rivers where we stayed earlier this month. We will only be there for a few days though, finishing off the third and uncompleted plot. The last week of the fieldwork will require us to travel back to all our plots, collecting soil samples, as these change with time so all need to be collected within a short time period. After that, with good fortune, we should be finished!

The usual weather

2008-08-22T06:38:00.000+01:00

We're back in Esso again, having returned early from the Razdelnhiy valley. We managed to complete another plot in larch forests, but fell behind schedule after some terrible weather conditions. We spent almost an entire day confined to our tents in persistent rain, and most evenings there has been more to ensure that the vegetation remains thoroughly sodden. We're therefore glad to be back in the Institute to take a warm shower and sleep in dry beds. We'll be working in the vicinity of Esso for the next few days on another plot before we head further afield next week. The weather is still unpredictable and reminiscent of autumn in England. Actually it's perfectly normal for this region - the hot spell in July was exceptional, so this was to be expected.

White birch and wet weather

2008-08-15T04:56:00.001+01:00

We're back in the village again after a trip to the upper reaches of the Bystrya valley to create another plot in some white birch forests near the Gorgachan pass. The weather was terrible, and we've all come down with colds after spending long days working in damp, misty conditions. As a result of this, we haven't quite completed it, and we've had to return as we ran out of food. We'll go back to finish it off at the end of the fieldwork. We'll be taking some time off this weekend before heading north to the Razdelniy valley for nine days to establish another two plots, this time in larch and mixed forests. The valley is one of the only intact watersheds I've seen in this area following extensive fires, so it's an ideal place to work and entirely untouched.

More plots completed

2008-08-11T05:07:00.001+01:00

We returned yesterday from our long excursion to the east where our work was extremely successful. We were based in an abandoned village, which was a blessing as we were able to sleep under a roof in a ramshackle hut and escape from the mosquitoes. The ferocity of the local mosquitoes was incredible - I've never experienced anything quite like it. They were worse than elsewhere in Kamchatka, and much worse than any tropical rain forest I've worked in. This made being outdoors extremely unpleasant, especially in the evening or close to the river. The village has only one permanent inhabitant, Zyelotok Vassilyevich, the archetypal old man in the woods. He proved to be an able guide and led us to some fantastic old-growth forests that were exactly what we were looking for. He also supplied us with mammoth salmon and trout from the river, so we gorged ourselves until we were sick of the sight of fresh fish. We were also blessed with good weather - the only half day of rain coincided with a rest day, which was excellent timing. As a result we managed to complete a further two and a half plots, although this effort has left the group pretty exhausted. Our plan is to return there at the end of August to complete the third plot and collect some more samples, but only for a few days, which will be much less gruelling.

Last night the team went out to dinner to celebrate passing the halfway point in the expedition, after which we joined in with the summer festival in the village. It's been a great relief to return to some home comforts and to dispel the cabin fever. We now have a month remaining out here, and plenty left to do if we're to meet all our objectives. Tomorrow we travel south to survey some birch forests in the upper reaches of the Bystrya river, and we'll return to Esso on the 15th August.

Last post to Kamchatka!

2008-08-11T04:48:00.001+01:00

I know many of our friends and family are following this blog, so this is a quick post to suggest that if you have anything you're planning to send to us here in Esso, I'd recommend you do so withing the next few days. Letters and packages are taking about three weeks to arrive, and since we're planning to leave around the 5th September, it would be a shame for things to turn up too late. That said, we all enjoy receiving mail, and more so than ever at the end of the trip when everyone looks forward to getting home, so if you get a chance then please do send something!

Killer bears in Kamchatka?

2008-07-28T22:14:00.001+01:00

Thanks to the many people who have passed on the following story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/24/russia.wildlife

I'm not in a position to relate any first-hand facts, but this story has obviously been wildly exaggerated. Beneath the claims passed on by credulous Moscow correspondants there is nevertheless a serious story behind this.

Firstly, two people have been killed by bears, or more likely a single bear. This happens every year, mostly in in Russia and America, but is still an unusual occurrence. These events typically share some common features. They tend to take place near settlements, where bears have become habituated to human presence, and usually involve only a single bear that has turned 'bad'. Retribution from the local community is swift. The deaths are tragic but nonetheless unsurprising. Bears sniffing through domestic waste are typical of any village in the region and cause no alarm. We have them on the local tip outside Esso. Bears in the wilderness are generally wary of humans and are reluctant to approach camps.

As for thirty bears surrounding a remote field site, the claim is frankly ludicrous. Bears are solitary creatures, so this is no more likely than thirty hungry cats laying siege to an aviary. Besides, would a group of terrified workers really go out into the dense surrounding forests and count bears until they got to thirty? I'm sure they're scared to leave the camp, but this is an implausible scenario.

Finally, however, I'm glad to see the illegal industrial-scale poaching of salmon reported. This is a major problem in the region, but not a new one - it's been an issue here in Kamchatka for over a decade. Some rivers have been cleaned of almost all fish. The sad truth is that this is not the cause of starving bears this summer; it's been going on for some time, and the impact has more than likely already played itself out in bear populations at a regional scale, although it may still have local effects where new poaching operations open.

So, in short, please don't worry about our team - starving bears are not roaming the forests eating people. We are still wary of bears and taking all possible precautions to avoid them. I can't promise that we won't encounter bears as it's one of the major risks of working here, but I don't consider that risk to have got any worse.

Journey to the east

2008-07-28T05:18:00.001+01:00

We have recently returned from an exploratory trip up the Anavgiy river valley to scout for more locations for our forest plots. Sadly this proved fruitless as it appears that large tracts of forest were destroyed in recent years by a series of devastating fires. This seems to be a common picture in the region, and the main difference I've noticed in the ten years since I last visited has been the increase in burnt areas. This is not necessarily the result of increased human activity - in fact, the population is declining and becoming more concentrated in a few areas. It's more likely to be the result of an interaction with climate change.

Over recent years, Kamchatka has experienced a series of extremely hot summers. I spoke recently with a retired hunter who observed that he had experienced nothing comparable in 58 years living in Esso village. These conditions are in parallel to those we've witnessed in Europe, with the difference being that out here the forests of larch and pine are still widespread and extremely vulnerable to wildfires. Once a fire starts, it spreads more rapidly and over a much greater area than before. Moreover, there are simply not the resources or manpower in this remote region to tackle the blazes. The result is countless hectares of forest being razed.

There are still intact areas, but it appears we will have to travel further afield to find them. Our plan is to relocate on Thursday to an area in the east where we have been assured there are still extensive tracts of old-growth forest. There we hope to set up more plots, and it will make an interesting comparison with the montane forests we have surveyed so far. Nevertheless, we're now behind schedule on the main project, and in need of some good fortune to catch up.

Second plot finished

2008-07-23T22:14:00.001+01:00

Yesterday the second forest plot was completed, not without a serious amount of effort. It was a patch of larch forest with dense thickets of mountain pine beneath the canopy, so we were fighting through bushes the whole time. We did our best though, and it´s a good workout for the whole body.

On returning from the plot a few days ago, a mother and cub bear ran onto the trail directly in front of us, having been scared off by a vehicle on a nearby trail. Fortunately they saw us and backed away peaceably so the incident passed without any alarm. It´s a welcome reminder though that there are plenty of bears in the forests here.

Today we´re leaving the village of Esso and moving to a camp in the north on the Anavgiy river where we hope to find forests of white birch and larch in abundance. At least, that´s what the forest inventory maps suggest, although the last full survey was completed in 1996 so we won´t really know until we arrive. If we find good quality old-growth forests then we would hope to be based there for some time.

First plot completed

2008-07-15T04:51:00.001+01:00

The first forest plot has now been completed in a beautiful patch of stone birch forest (Betula ermanii) south of Esso village in the Gorgachan valley. Today we're taking a welcome rest and not feeling too guilty as the rain has been falling steadily all afternoon. Tomorrow we'll be exploring some areas of old-growth larch forests to find the next place to set up a study plot. We've already had several encounters with bears, but fortunately on each occasion they've retreated peaceably on hearing us coming.

The side projects are also going well, apart from some minor methodological difficulties in trapping small rodents. Botanical and entomological collections are underway to complement the main research characterising the forest plots. The local park staff have been extremely helpful and supportive, so it's all going remarkably smoothly and to schedule. All we need now is for the rain to stop!

Arrived in Esso

2008-07-03T10:47:00.001+01:00

We've now arrived in Esso and are esconsed in the grounds of the National Park administration. We're making some exploratory treks at the moment, to get to know the area and see how things have changed in the last ten years. We've also been able to meet up with some old friends. The forests are truly breathtaking. We'll be chosing a base camp in the next few days then making plans to start the real work.

Arrived in Petropavlovsk

2008-07-01T04:58:00.001+01:00

We've all arrived safely and the last week has been spent recovering from the worst possible jetlag (a full twelve hours) and frantically preparing for the trip. We have a mountain of food ready to load onto the bus tomorrow morning when we'll travel up to Esso village and begin the real business of the expedition. The last few team members will arrive from Komsomolsk-na-Amur this evening. It's all been a desperate rush but we have all the essentials and we're looking forward to getting into the forest. Most Russians seem keen to warn us about the mosquitoes, for which we are well prepared, but dreading nevertheless. More to follow once we get settled in Esso.

Departure at last

2008-06-25T16:49:00.001+01:00

The time has come - we're ready to leave! Awaiting us is a flight to Moscow tonight, followed by ten hours wait in the airport until our connecting flight to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. We will arrive on Wednesday morning in Kamchatka, which will be Tuesday evening back in the UK. That means about 29 hours of travelling, after which we'll be exhausted and have the worst jetlag possible. More updates to follow once we arrive.

Radio 4 feature

2008-06-13T13:52:00.001+01:00

Markus Eichhorn appeared on Radio 4's science program Material World
yesterday to discuss the Kamchatka expedition. You can podcast it at the
link below. Markus' section is the second half.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/thematerialworld.shtml

Thanks to Lowe Alpine

2008-06-09T16:10:00.001+01:00

A big thank you to Lowe Alpine, who have kindly stepped in at short notice to supply our expedition rucksacks with a generous discount. They will also be providing some of the clothing for the group. Lowe Alpine are specialists in packs and clothing for mountain and extreme conditions. For details of their products see www.lowealpine.com.

Lyon Expedition award

2008-06-09T13:47:00.001+01:00

Many thanks to Lyon (www.lyon.co.uk), who have supplied the expedition with nine Petzl MYO XP head-torches! These normally retail for £55 each so we are extremely grateful to them for their generosity. Lyon are suppliers of specialist equipment to outdoor professionals, especially rescue services, but also to climbers, cyclists and other outdoor enthusiasts. They also provide training and assessment services.

Radio 4 coverage

2008-06-09T12:34:00.002+01:00

Dr Eichhorn will be appearing on the Material World program presented by Quentin Cooper on Radio 4, on Thursday 12th June at 4:30pm. He will be discussing the expedition, including the implications of the research for conservation and our understanding of forest processes. For more about the program or to podcast it see:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/thematerialworld.shtml

Joint field course

2008-06-09T12:25:00.001+01:00

During the first two weeks in the field, we will be joined by a group of
undergraduates from Vitus Bering Kamchatka State University, led by Prof
Svetlana Artemenko and Dr Natalya Stupnikova. They will be participating
in the initial training week in the area around Esso village and will
assist in setting up the base camp and the initial forest-mapping phase
of the expedition. This will be a great opportunity for both the British
and Russian undergraduates to receive training and also to promote links
between the two universities.

Changes to expedition team

2008-06-09T12:19:00.001+01:00

Sadly, Samuel Kemp has been forced to withdraw from the expedition due to family problems. We wish Sam all the best and he will be missed. In his place, we will be joined by Olga Mutin from Komsomolsk-na-Amur.

Kamchatka 2008 on TV and radio

2008-06-09T08:54:00.002+01:00

The expedition has been receiving quite a bit of local media coverage recently. Markus Eichhorn appeared on BBC Radio Nottingham on 28th May on the morning show at around 7:50am, where the discussion mostly focussed on bears. On the same day there was a feature on BBC East Midlands news, which you can see here:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3ca8WQUcRPY

A further appearance on BBC Radio 4 is already being lined up - more to follow!