TASS, August 28. Members of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) Yamal branch departed from Arkhangelsk to Arctic islands to test new digital communication and to monitor the polar bear’s population, the branch’s deputy head, Igor Kuznetsov, told TASS on Tuesday.
"A part of the expedition team has left - they are heading for the Dikson Island, where three more specialists will join them, and then we shall go to the islands," he said. "We shall practice radio communication, and besides we have a task from Taimyr’s Natural Reserves to monitor polar bears and other animals north of the Polar Circle."
According to him, the Legends of Arctic scientific-technical expedition departed from Arkhangelsk on board the Apostol Andrei yacht.
"The travelers will spend in the Arctic more than one month and will visit the islands, near which 125 years ago drifted the legendary Fram ship during the expedition led by a Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen," RGS’s branch said.
The expedition’s headquarters told TASS the travelers will test new short-wave digital communication in the Arctic regions and will make the ecology monitoring. "After the expedition, the specialists will organize traditional meetings with the youth, lectures and photo exhibitions," Kuznetsov said.
The Russian Geographical Society organized a branch on Yamal in 2010. It unites ecologists, geographers, activists and travelers. Every year they participate in various expeditions, including in the Arctic. For example, in early 2018, they visited the Victoria Island - the westernmost island in the Russian Arctic, which is between Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land, where they analyzed how radio waves behaved in the Arctic conditions and also had about 10,000 sessions with amateur radio users across the world.