The Komandorsky Islands (Commander Islands) were discovered in
1741 during an expedition led by Commander Vitus Bering and are
named after him. For a long time after the discovery, the islands
were uninhabited, the first settlers - the Aleuts and Creoles -
began to inhabit the islands only in 1825, later forming on the
islands a peculiar and unique Creole group in terms of their ethnic
traditions. The village of Nikolskoye on the largest of the
Komandorsky Islands - Bering Island - is the only Aleut settlement
in Russia.
During Tsarist Russia, the Komandorsky Islands
were one of the main suppliers of furs, replenishing the royal
treasury. The uncontrolled extermination of animals, "fur fever",
led to the mass extermination of seals, dramatically reducing their
numbers. Only at the end of the 19th century, the protection of
rookeries began, and restrictions on the extraction of sea otters
and fur seals were introduced. Control over the sea otter fishery
and the prohibition of fur seal hunting were introduced in 1911.
In Soviet times, the situation on the Komandorsky Islands
improved - since 1958, a ban was introduced on fishing in a
thirty-mile zone around the islands, in 1980 a nature reserve was
created on the territory of the islands, which since 1983 acquired
regional significance. The federal significance and the name "State
nature reserve of federal significance" Komandorskiy "is received on
April 23, 1993, and at the end of 2002 it was assigned the status
of" biosphere "under the auspices of UNESCO.
The Komandorsky
Reserve is the second largest territory among the reserves in
Russia. Its area is 3,648,679 hectares, including 185,379 hectares
of land and 3,463,300 of the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. There
is no volcanic activity on the territory, but there are earthquakes.
The reserve is located in the southern part of Bering Island, on the
islands Toporkov, Ariy Kamen, Medny, located in a compact group east
of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
The reserve is divided into
territories with varying degrees of protection:
- reserved cores
- in these areas, human intervention in all natural processes is
prohibited, an absolute reserved land;
- buffer zones -
traditional fishing and limited economic activities are allowed.
On the territory of the Komandorsky islands there are many
lakes, rivers, swamps, waterfalls. Almost all rivers are salmon
spawning grounds. Lake Sarannoe is the largest salmon spawning
ground on the Komandorsky Islands. The climate on the islands is
subarctic - humid and windy.
The fauna of the Komandorskiy
Reserve is amazing and diverse. The reserve is protected by
pinnipeds, whales, blue foxes, red voles, American minks, wild
reindeer, more than a million birds. In the coastal waters of the
islands there are 17 species of whales: sperm whales, minke whales,
commander's whales, beaked whales, Japanese and humpback whales, fin
whales and sei whales. In search of food, whales swim very close to
the shore, allowing tourists to admire the fountains of water and
majestic silhouettes.
Pinnipeds are the main treasure of the reserve. The islands are
inhabited by over 250,000 sea otters, sea lions, anthurs, seals, fur
seals, sea hares, lionfish, walruses and other species. Blue and
bowhead whales, minke whales, anthurs, commander's belttooths, sea
otters are listed in the Red Book.
Due to the originality of
the flora of the islands, the Komandorsky islands are separated from
the flora of Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands, a floristic area.
Due to the frequent and strong winds, there are no trees on the
islands, and only in the valleys and gullies protected from the
winds low and strongly curved willow and mountain ash bushes grow,
and in open areas there are thickets of juniper.
River
valleys and lake shores are rich in flowers, many species of which
are listed in the Red Book: large-flowered slipper, Yatabe slipper,
real slipper, seaweed, Kamchatka trillium and Lessing's arnica. You
can pick berries and mushrooms in the reserve without special
permission.
The Komandorsky Islands attract tourists from all
over the world with their wild, primeval, untouched nature. The
period from July to September is the most favorable period for
visiting the reserve. Two active routes have been developed for
tourists: “Aleutian trail on Medny Island” and “Acquaintance with
the fauna and flora of Bering Island”. The cruise program includes a
visit to the village of Nikolskoye, fur seal rookeries, exploring
the islands Toporkov, Medny, Ariy Kamen.
There are three ways
to get to the administrative center of the Komandorsky Islands - the
village of Nikolskoye on Bering Island: by plane L-410 from Yelizovo
airport, by helicopter MI-8 or by sea passenger vessel. Travel
around the reserve is carried out on GAZ-66, UAZ, ZIL-131, URAL or
on foot, on water - on motor boats "Zodiac".