In the fall of 2020, a group of scientists from IEE RAS led by Ph.D. Olga Shpak departed for Wrangel Bay with an interesting task: to install satellite transmitters on whales in order monitor their migration routes and winter habitats, test a new way of taking a biopsy - using a drone, replenish the photo catalog of whales and try to assess the influence of tourists on the population under threat of extinction.
It was planned to put satellite tags on animals in an unusual way - from a motorized paraglider. It turned out to be not at all easy, as the pilot Alexander Bogdanov vividly tells.
This is a film about an amazing place - the Shantar Islands. This place is one of the few on the planet where people can come into contact with whales in the literal sense of the word.
Expedition organizers:
Institute of Ecology and Evolution A.N. Severtsov Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS),
Project “Trace to Preserve”: Understanding the Seasonal Distribution of Threatened Bowhead Whales to Identify Potential 'Areas of Conflict' with Economic Activities
The project was supported by the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK)
The film was shot with the support of the “Splav” company https://www.splav.ru/ and the “Far Eastern Expeditions” http://fetravels.ru/.