06/07/2024
Wrangel Island, the most pristine nature reserve on the planet
“Wrangel Island is a place where nature reveals its power and grandeur. There is no room for the hustle of the modern world here, only the silence and magnificence of the wild nature.”
John Muir
The word ‘remote’ might have been created for Wrangel Island. Sitting on the top of the world within the Arctic Sea off the northern coast of Chukotka, it was once domestic to woolly mammoths. It is believed that Wrangel Island is the last place on earth where woolly mammoths roamed. Evidence has been found of human occupation as early as 1700 BC, with some stone and ivory tools discovered in 1975. The Chukchi people of Siberia tell of a chief who led his people across the ice to settle the island. Whether this legend is true or not, there is evidence that hunters followed the reindeer herds north on their annual migration and mammoth tusks can still be found, protruding from the ground. Nowadays, polar bears, walruses, musk ox and heap feathered creatures live, feed and breed on its shorelines, cliffs and tundra. The island has claimed the lives of numerous pioneers, but gutsy 21st century travelers can get here securely on an expedition journey, accompanied by expert guides...
Read more: https://blueexplorermag.com/2024/07/05/wrangel-island-the-most-pristine-nature-reserve-on-the-planet/