On 26 November a new photo exhibition of the Commander Islands Nature and Biosphere Reserve opens in one of Moscow parks – Hermitage Garden situated in Karetny Riad Street. The exhibition is called Winter Adventure in The Commander Islands Reserve, which is the largest marine nature reserve in Russia. Visitors will have a chance to see 20 photographs made by our employees. Each picture shows one of the species of the Commander Islands or the surrounding water area in the Pacific Ocean. Total length of the displays is about 18 meters, which is an average length of the humpback whale – our living and beautiful hallmark.  

Humpback whale. Photo by Evgeny Mamaev

The outdoor exhibition will take the visitors to the snowy Commander Islands with their inhabitants: lively orca whales, wicked arctic foxes, whiskered northern seals. You will see a ptarmigan and snowy owl hiding in the snow and favorite pastime of emperor geese wintering on the islands. In the park you may see a whale’s tail, give a see otter a stroke, admire a majestic sea lion and harbor seal, which is also called flower-seal due to its extraordinary coloration.  

Emperor geese. Photo by Evgeny Mamaev

 “The emperor goose is a rare bird, included in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation. It is rather hard to protect the species, as its areal is very small. In Russia they breed only on Chukotka and Kolyma. On the Commander Islands these birds form densely populated wintering grounds – up to 300 birds. Thanks to the protection measures taken by the reserve, they have nothing to fear hear,” said Dmitry Pilipenko, Ornithologist and Researcher of the Commander Islands Nature and Biosphere Reserve.  

Northern seals. Photo by Evgeny Mamaev  

“One of the treasures of the Commander Islands is a number of sea mammals rookeries,” said Deputy Director for Science Evgeny Mamaev, “After the discovery of the islands by Vitus Bering, the pioneers saw millions of sea lions, common seals and harbor seals. Rigorous hunting damaged the rookeries a lot, but you can still see thousands of these animals on the Commander Islands. Not to frighten the animals, we installed special observation sites near the rookeries.”

Sea otter. Photo by Evgeny Mamaev

Sea otters had a similar story. But due to the creation of the reserve, sea otters are safe now. They are commonly seen near the islands, sometimes even in the bay near Nikolskoye rural area.  

Orca whale. Photo by Evgeny Mamaev  

Reindeers. Photo by Dmitry Pilipenko  

 “We are happy to invite Moscow citizens and tourists to our winter fairytale of the Commander Islands,” said the Director of the Commander Islands Nature and Biosphere Reserve Anastasiia Kuznetsova, “We would like to congratulate the visitors on incoming New Year, which is the year of the 100-year anniversary of the Russian system of protected areas.”