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Nikolskoye, Komandorskie (Commander) Islands

The Commander Islands, Komandorski Islands, or Komandorskie Islands (Russian: Командо́рские острова́, Komandorskiye ostrova) are a series of islands in the Russian Far East, a part of the Aleutian Islands, located about 175 km (109 mi) east of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Bering Sea. Treeless and sparsely populated, the islands consist of Bering Island (95 km (59 mi) by 15 km (9.3 mi)), Medny Island (55 km (34 mi) by 5 km (3.1 mi)) and fifteen islets and rocks. The largest of the latter are Tufted Puffin Rock (Kamen Toporkov or Ostrov Toporkov), 15 ha (37 acres), and Kamen Ariy, which are between 3 km (1.9 mi) and 13 km (8.1 mi) west of the only settlement, Nikolskoye. Administratively, the Commanders compose the Aleutsky District of the Kamchatka Krai (Wikipedia)

We visited this, the only small village on any of these islands, the others being unpopulated nature reserves. This building is one of a large number of nineteenth century buildings then used as fur trapping and trading enterprises, when much of the marine life was exterminated by the Russians and Americans to supply a hungry fur trade. Now just relics. Not on any tourist agendas. We were on a 47 passenger no frills expedition cruise to tramp in wellington boots around Kamchatka and remote places searching for bears and wild things! We did see huge Kamchatka bears, rusty- coloured, trotting on deserted shores, swimming, scooping up salmon at river mouths. And walrus, sea lions, millions of different birds, eagles…whales of many kinds. And no people apart from us.
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23 comments

Malik Raoulda said:

Merci pour ce superbe partage des îles du Commandeur bien rendu et très bien renseigné.va doit être vraiment magnifique d'être sur place.
Bonne et heureuse fin de semaine paisible et salutaire.
9 months ago ( translate )

Marije Aguillo said:

Precioso lugar tiene que ser. Me gusta mucho la composición.
9 months ago ( translate )

Amelia said:

I think it's always rather nice to visit places that aren't on the tourist agenda, and this looks wild. Did you find any bears?
9 months ago

Diana Australis replied to Amelia:

We did! Huge russet coloured ones, stuffing themselves with salmon at the river mouths entering the sea, sauntering along beaches, and swimming.
9 months ago

Jaap van 't Veen said:

Beautiful composition. Never heard of these islands.
Thank you for the interesting note.
9 months ago

William Sutherland said:

Excellent capture!

Admired in: www.ipernity.com/group/tolerance
9 months ago ( translate )

Günter Klaus said:

Das hast du auch sehr schön festgehalten mit diesen Blick auf das Wasser raus liebe Diana :))

Wünsche noch ein schönes Wochenende,liebe Grüße Güni :))
9 months ago ( translate )

Annemarie said:

how wonderful this Diana:)
9 months ago

tiabunna said:

A beautiful image and I can imagine how exciting it must have been to be among the few visitors. Big huggss.
9 months ago

Nicole Merdrignac said:

Superbe et très intéressant. Bonne journée.
9 months ago ( translate )

Keith Burton said:

You certainly get around Diana............and I'm impressed that you don't seem to follow the usual tourist trails............as this image and you narrative clearly shows!

Beautifully captured..!!
9 months ago

Herb Riddle said:

What a place, what a journey you undertook Diana. As Keith says - you get around a bit. Glad that you did see real wild life here and long may it remain so in our present climate.

Best Wishes. Herb
9 months ago

Boarischa Krautmo said:

beautiful!
9 months ago ( translate )

Leo W said:

sieht idyllisch aus dort
9 months ago

Don Sutherland said:

Exceptional photo.
9 months ago ( translate )