Russian Arctic Cruises & Expeditions

Russia’s newest National Park is the northernmost and the largest protected natural territory in Russia. The park occupies two remote archipelagoes, the northern part of Novaya Zemlya and the archipelago of Franz Josef Land. Together, they’re sometimes referred to as “The Edge of the Earth.” This expansive territory is primary habitat for many iconic Arctic mammals, such as polar bears, walruses and narwhals, as well as diverse bird species. This region is where the first European visitors overwintered. The national park is home to some well-preserved Soviet polar research stations.

This Russian state nature reserve compromises most of the remote islands of the Kara Sea, some coastline and parts of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. At 4 million hectares, it’s one of the largest nature reserves in the world and the largest in Russia and Eurasia. The impetus to create the reserve originated with a group of scientists who were conducting field research on the Taymyr peninsula in the late 1980s. They wanted to protect the unique ecosystems of this Arctic region. The reserve was approved in 1993 and today it remains a protected habitat for many important bird and mammal species. 

The Russian Arctic abounds with wildlife: polar bears and walruses along with beluga, narwhal and bowhead whales. That abundance is due to a number of reasons: the remoteness of Russia’s Arctic coastline; minimal human presence; and the biological productivity of its waters. In the Barents and Kara Seas, the warm waters of the Atlantic mix with the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean and fresh water discharges of Russia’s massive continental rivers (such as the Ob and Yenisey) create a unique and thriving ecosystem. The seasonal sea ice habitats are especially inviting to polar bears and marine mammals in the summer. 

Once-secret Soviet polar stations—established in the Arctic during the Cold War—have recently opened to foreign visitors. But the Arctic figured prominently in Russia’s history long before that. Some of the first European incursions into the Arctic started on the shores of the Russian Arctic. Willem Barents, for instance, became the first European to overwinter in Novaya Zemlya in the late 16th century, and Franz Josef Land became the home base for North Pole expeditions in the age of polar exploration. In recent years, polar explorers have been lured to Severnaya Zemlya’s Cape Arkticheskiy, less than 1,000 kilometres from the North Pole.