Before the flood

This is how the ranger station looked like before the flood. Photo taken in
2007 by Dave Rimlinger.

Steller's Sea Eagle River flooded

The Kava-Chelomdza portion of the Magadan Nature Reserve has been severely flooded. All June the water level has been at a 50 year record level. The eagle's breeding performance is expected to be low.

Irina Utekhina

June adventure

On 2 June 2009 we set off in a small tug boat to visit the Koni penninsula and the Yama Islands, south of Magadan. Initially we managed to survey the coasts of the Koni, the Kekurnaya and the Udacha bays. On 7 June the tug boat was trapped by the ice and we were at the mercy of the ice fields for almost a week. The tides were ripping at the tug boat while we progressed through the ice fields at the speed of 10 km/hr. Because of the ice we did not reach the Yama Islands, and returned safely but with frazzled nerves.

Irina Utekhina/ Photos by Larisa Zelenskaya