MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. A group of scientists of the Great Norilsk Expedition, organized by the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch, reached the place where the Pyasina River flows into the Kara Sea, the expedition’s press service said on Tuesday.

“A group of six scientists has covered more than 500km by helicopter to reach the northernmost destination on the route – the confluence of the Pyasina River with the Kara Sea,” the press service said. “The expedition camped on Cape Vkhodnoi near an old fishing base, which had not seen people for a few years.”

The researchers took samples of soil, plants and water at a few locations along the Pyasina River. “As the scientists were taking the samples, they spotted a seal at a distance of one and a half kilometers. It would hide under the water a few times but would each time return to where it had been seen. The water in the river, by the way, is slightly salty, but clean. All the team would drink it right from the river without any fear,” the press service said. The experts will study the hydrocarbon geochemical background and geochemical anomalies.

About expedition to Taimyr

The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the first time in recent years heads for the Taimyr Peninsula at the invitation of Nornickel. The big scientific expedition will study the peninsula and later on scientists will present suggestions for industrial companies, working in the Arctic, on how to preserve the nature.