Embark on your spectacular 17-day “Northern Explorer” expedition. This afternoon you will be introduced to your Expedition Team and participate in the safety drill. Tonight you are invited to familiarize yourself with your new home away from home, meet some of your fellow travelers and enjoy the first of many memorable meals in The Restaurant.

For the first leg of your expedition, journey along the Alaska Peninsula, which extends 400 miles (644 km) from mainland Alaska toward the Aleutian island chain. The landscape is breathtakingly beautiful, with active volcanoes, towering mountain peaks, rolling tundra, rugged, wave-battered coastlines and the largest brown bear population in the state.

Katmai National Park is on the top of many “Best of Alaska” lists because of its otherworldly landscape, including 15 active volcanoes. You will have the opportunity to get up-close to abundant wildlife and raw beauty; the scenery is magnificent at Geographic Harbor at the head of Amalik Bay, and the bears are ubiquitous.

Kukak Bay is well known for its concentration of bears and the salmon on which they feed, and this is one of the prime areas in this region for bear viewing. Enjoy Zodiac cruises to see bears, sea mammals and birds.

This stunning and nearly uninhabited archipelago is home to some of the largest populations of native and undisturbed wildlife in the United States. There are 2.5 million birds here, almost half the breeding seabirds of the Alaska Peninsula. You’ll find huge numbers of Horned Puffins, Northern Fulmars and jaegers, and over a million murres. Ancient Murrelets and Parakeet Auklets are among the other species found, while the surrounding sea is home to sea otters, sea lions, seals, Dall’s porpoises, Pacific white-sided dolphins and whales.

Chignik, with only 91 inhabitants is a remote fishing village with two fish plants. In summer the population doubles, as fishing gets better. Visit the village during the afternoon and might get to see one of the processing plants.

The Aleutians stretch 1300 miles (2600 km) from Kamchatka to Alaska, onetime stepping-stones for Russian trappers and traders, who established settlements on the islands. Dutch Harbor became a trans-shipping point for the gold boomtown of Nome. Today most of the islands form part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, renowned for its dramatic, sea-sculpted coastlines, abundant marine animals and millions of migratory and nesting seabirds — a full 80% of all seabirds in North America use the refuge. For the next few days wind through the Aleutians with a fairly flexible itinerary, making the best of the weather and local conditions. Here are some places you may visit:

Explore the Unga Village, which had been subject to a small gold rush. The village was eventually abandoned in the 1960’s and now has a somewhat sombre appearance. Many of the houses have collapsed. From a distance the church with the tower seems intact. Standing close you can see that only the roof is standing on the ground, the walls having collapsed. Great Horned Owls nest near the church. During a Zodiac-cruise in the bay kittiwakes, Double Crested and Pelagic Cormorants, as well as good numbers of Common Murres and Tufted Puffins can be seen.

Together with the city of Unalaska, Dutch Harbor is a bustling community with about 4,000 residents. It is connected by bridge to the rest of Unalaska on Amaknak Island and its name is frequently applied to the entire town. During your city tour, visit the World War II bunkers and the spectacular Russian Orthodox Church.

Birders will delight in the large amount of Bald Eagles found around town.

During the morning land on the small and uninhabited island Chagulak. The island is formed by a single volcano, reaching a height of 3474 ft. During the afternoon travel some 44 nautical miles further west to visit Seguam — with 80 square miles a slightly larger island. Instead of one volcano Seguam is made up of several stratovolcanoes. The island contains two calderas, one of them having erupted as recently as 1993.

With 404 square miles Atka is the largest of the Andreanov Islands and the 22nd largest island of the US. Korovin volcano reaches a height of 5,030 ft. Reindeer roam on the island, which has barely 100 inhabitants. The island is one out of three places in Alaska to be part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument that encompasses 9 sites in three different states.

If conditions permit, take a Zodiac tour along the cliffs of Sirius point, which can only be described as “magical“. Search for Least and Crested Auklets, Peregrine Falcons and Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses, all the while keeping an eye open for the Sperm Whales that frequent the area. Evidence of the Japanese occupation during WWII can clearly be seen at Kiska Harbour, including a Japanese 2-man submarine found ashore.

See the remains of a Shinto shrine left behind by the 6000 strong occupying force. During your nature walks look for Ptarmigans, Lapland Longspurs and Bald Eagles.

Attu is the westernmost point of the United States and the site of the only WWII battle fought on North American soil — over two thousand Japanese soldiers lost their lives at Massacre Bay. During the Cold War a LORAN Station was set up, which by now is abandoned.

The island is an ornithologist’s paradise, today keep your eyes peeled for some of the birds migrating from Asia that are occasionally spotted. Be on the lookout for Peregrine Falcons, Lapland Longspur and Aleutian Canada Goose.

During the afternoon attend a lecture or scan the waters and sky for marine mammals and seabirds on your way to the Russian Far East.

A leisurely day at sea is yours to enjoy. Begin perhaps with a late breakfast and another cup of coffee or tea during the first of the day’s lectures. Join the lectures and hear fascinating tales of adventure and learn more about the Russian Far East’s wildlife and remarkable nature. Your knowledgeable Lecture Staff members are experts in a variety of scientific fields. Today you will also become a time traveler: coming from the east, heading west you will cross the International Dateline and therefore loose a day!

Petropavlovsk, the town of Peter and Paul, derives its named from the two sailing ships used by Vitus Bering when the great explorer reached Avacha Bay in 1740. It is the only major city on the peninsula and one of the oldest. Petropavlovsk is also the scientific and cultural center of the region, and today you will see why as local guides take you on a comprehensive tour including the museum of ethnography and natural history, the art school, the gold-domed Russian Orthodox Cathedral and the marketplace.

A drive out of the city and into the beautiful countryside will take you down a narrow road through a forest of willows, alder, poplars, and the stone or Erman’s birch that is a symbol of Kamchatka. Splashes of pink fireweed and yellow rattle brighten the roadside. Your destination will be the sled-dog kennel where racing sled dogs are kept. A local folk-group will entertain you with songs and dances of the Even and Itelmen ethnic groups.

Stretching over 800 miles from the southern end of the Kamchatka Peninsula to Hokkaido in Japan, this chain of over 30 volcanic islands is an important breeding ground for Steller sea lions and one of the richest areas in the world for seabirds; up to 14 species of auks, as well as Spectacled and Pigeon Guillemots can be found in there. As you travel southward, these are some of the places you may visit:

At Shumshu Island take a Zodiac cruise to watch sea otters at play in the kelp beds and waters and observe the activities of the many cormorants that reside in the bird cliffs. You will probably be greeted by many inquisitive seals raising their heads above the surface to look at your boats.

During lunch the ship will reposition towards the east to reach Atlasova and its 6,500 ft. (2,000 m) high volcano Alaid -the highest volcano in the Kurils. Alaid is praised by the Japanese for its almost perfect volcanic cone.

Land by Zodiac on the black lava beach for a walk to see the remains of the Taketomi tufa cone and the women’s prison, or gulag. The women, many of them political prisoners during the Soviet rule, were sent here to raise foxes for fur. Peregrine Falcons can sometimes be spotted flying above the beach, while buzzards, Eurasian Wigeons, and Tufted Ducks have all been observed on the island.

Matua is home to one of the Kuril’s most active volcanoes, with more than 14 documented eruptions in the past 250 years. Weather permitting, make a landing and start a long walk to the upper plateau of Matua along a dirt road that cuts through dense thickets of alders. Singing Eurasian Bullfinches, Siberian Rubythroats, ravens, Eye-browed Thrushes and some very active Peregrine Falcons are among the birds expected.

Learn about the Japanese military base that was set up here during WWII and how the Japanese used to capture geothermal heat from the volcano to keep the runway open during winter.

The newest building on uninhabited Matua is a tiny Russian Orthodox Church –with room for 4 to 5 people inside. Standing on the edge of the main plateau of the island and commanding a marvelous view of the bay, the church has been beautifully constructed of wood.

During the early afternoon the ship will reposition to Yankicha, the southern part of Ushishir Island. The island is quite impressive — actually so much so that it is featured in almost all articles about the Kuril Islands. The southern part (Yankicha) has a caldera accessible only by Zodiac and only during high tide. Inside this extraordinary lagoon with its fumaroles and hot springs, you can still see traces of the tremendous forces that created the island long ago and a visit here is invariably one of the highlights of the entire voyage. The number of auklets, which breed here, is truly incredible.
If you are lucky you may also catch a glimpse of an Arctic Fox or even the rare and elusive Whiskered Auklet. Arctic Warblers and Middendorff’s Grasshopper Warblers can be seen apart from the seabirds nesting here. Polar Foxes had been introduced by the Japanese as a resource for fur trappers. As the island is a nature reserve for birds, the foxes live off the vast number of breeding birds, especially the auklets that nest on the slopes in cracks between the boulders and stones.

During the early morning approach Chirpoy and search by Zodiac (weather permitting) along the Coast of Chirpoy Island for the profusion of wildlife that lives in the area, including Steller sea lions, northern fulmars, kittiwakes, puffins and auklets. whales, and specifically orcas.

If Snou volcano is active you might see the slow flowing lava reach the sea from a safe distance.

During the afternoon continue your journey crossing the Sea of Okhotsk.

Thousands of Northern fur seals and Steller sea lions call Tyuleniy Island their home -understandably the island was named this way, as the word tyuleniy means “seal” in Russian. During the summer months the island is home to literally tens of thousands of seals and sea lions that will be heard through a cacophony of sound difficult to imagine. Bulls, their harems and many thousands of young black pups all jostle for space on the crowded beaches that flanked the small rocky island. On occasions there are so many of them on the beach that landing is impossible, as there is simply no space available.

During the afternoon the ship will head south across the Sea of Okhotsk.

Today, clear out of Russia. This is a technical stop only and as soon as the formalities are concluded continue on your way to Japan. Today is a good day to edit photos, or listen to the last lectures, which will be preparing you for Japan.

Do not miss the presentation of the voyage’s DVD by your on-board Photographer/Videographer, who will have recorded the various highlights of this voyage.

After clearance into Japan and following breakfast, disembark.