Novaya Zemlya

In the years 1869 to 1871, the bold Norwegian seal hunters had quite unexpectedly opened the Kara Sea to navigation.

To our extreme astonishment we learned one day at the Society that the sea which lies between the island of Novaya Zemlya and the Siberian coast, and which we used confidently to describe in our writings as an ice cellar permanently stocked with ice, had been entered by a number of small Norwegian schooners and crossed by them in all directions.

Even the wintering place of the famous Dutchman Barents, which we believed to be concealed forever from the eyes of man by ice fields hundreds of years old, had been visited by these adventurous Norsemen.

Exceptional seasons and an exceptional state of the ice, was what our elder navigators said.

Several subjects, such as marine zoology, the tides, pendulum observations, and terrestrial magnetism, were quite new to me, but the amount of work which a healthy man can accomplish in a short time if he strains all his forces and goes straight to the root of the subject, no one would suppose beforehand.

And so my report was ready.

It concluded by advocating a great Arctic expedition which would awaken in Russia a permanent interest in Arctic questions and Arctic navigation, and in the meantime, a reconnoitering expedition on board a schooner chartered in Norway with its captain, pushing north or northeast of Novaya Zemlya.

This expedition, we suggested, might also try to reach, or at least to sight, an unknown land which must be situated at no great distance from Novaya Zemlya.

In the Arctic Ocean, sticking out off of Russia's northern coast, sits one of the most intriguing pieces of territory on Earth.

It's the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, and it's one of the most heavily bombed places on the planet.

Most people who have ever looked at a map of Russia have probably noticed this piece of territory, but most people also seem to know very little about it.

Recently, though, Novaya Zemlya became one of the most important pieces of territory in all of Russia when it comes to analyzing the war in Ukraine.

That's because since starting the war against Ukraine for the first time ever, Russia removed most of their many air defense systems off of this archipelago.

That's something that can be seen in satellite images.

Earlier in the war, the systems were there on Novaya Zemlya.

Today, they're almost completely gone.

Right? So I think they're the first ones to circumnavigate it.

Why Vagotch? According to Schmieren, who posted regular updates, the group had originally wanted to paddle Novaya Zemlya, but the logistics were prohibitive.

Vagach offered an Arctic expedition experience without needing to hire a helicopter or a yacht to get there.

In addition, Vagach has fewer polar bears.

Oh, that's good.

There's a check mark on the old list.

Doesn't require complicated military permission as Novaya Zemlya does.

Hmm.

Question two.

The 1961 explosion of Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated, took place on Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago in which ocean? Gemma.

Pacific.

Incorrect.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think most of them nest in, uh, most barnacles are on, um, Svalbard and then that Novaya Zemlya, that big island that's just east of there.

That's where they tested the Tsar Bomba, the Russian...

It's on the Russ- Yeah.

In the years 1869 to 71, the bold Norwegian seal hunters had quite unexpectedly opened the Kara Sea to navigation.

To our extreme astonishment we learned one day at the Society that the sea which lies between the island of Novaya Zemlya and the Siberian coast, and which we used confidently to describe in our writings as an ice cellar permanently stocked with ice, had been entered by a number of small Norwegian schooners and crossed by them in all directions.

Even the wintering place of the famous Dutchman Barents, which we believed to be concealed forever from the eyes of man by ice fields hundreds of years old, had been visited by these adventurous Norsemen.

Exceptional seasons and an exceptional state of the ice, was what our elder navigators said.

Several subjects, such as marine zoology, the tides, pendulum observations, and terrestrial magnetism, were quite new to me, but the amount of work which a healthy man can accomplish in a short time if he strains all his forces and goes straight to the root of the subject, no one would suppose beforehand.

And so my report was ready.

It concluded by advocating a great Arctic expedition which would awaken in Russia a permanent interest in Arctic questions and Arctic navigation, and in the meantime, a reconnoitering expedition on board a schooner chartered in Norway with its captain, pushing north or northeast of Novaya Zemlya.

This expedition, we suggested, might also try to reach, or at least to sight, an unknown land which must be situated at no great distance from Novaya Zemlya.

In the years 1869 to 1871, the bold Norwegian seal hunters had quite unexpectedly opened the Kara Sea to navigation.

To our extreme astonishment we learned one day at the Society that the sea which lies between the island of Novaya Zemlya and the Siberian coast, and which we used confidently to describe in our writings as an ice cellar permanently stocked with ice, had been entered by a number of small Norwegian schooners and crossed by them in all directions.

Even the wintering place of the famous Dutchman Barents, which we believed to be concealed forever from the eyes of man by ice fields hundreds of years old, had been visited by these adventurous Norsemen.

Exceptional seasons and an exceptional state of the ice, was what our elder navigators said.

Several subjects, such as marine zoology, the tides, pendulum observations, and terrestrial magnetism, were quite new to me, but the amount of work which a healthy man can accomplish in a short time if he strains all his forces and goes straight to the root of the subject, no one would suppose beforehand.

And so my report was ready.

It concluded by advocating a great Arctic expedition which would awaken in Russia a permanent interest in Arctic questions and Arctic navigation, and in the meantime, a reconnoitering expedition on board a schooner chartered in Norway with its captain, pushing north or northeast of Novaya Zemlya.

This expedition, we suggested, might also try to reach, or at least to sight, an unknown land which must be situated at no great distance from Novaya Zemlya.

In the years 1869 to 71, the bold Norwegian seal hunters had quite unexpectedly opened the Kara Sea to navigation.

To our extreme astonishment we learned one day at the Society that the sea which lies between the island of Novaya Zemlya and the Siberian coast, and which we used confidently to describe in our writings as an ice cellar permanently stocked with ice, had been entered by a number of small Norwegian schooners and crossed by them in all directions.

Even the wintering place of the famous Dutchman Barents, which we believed to be concealed forever from the eyes of man by ice fields hundreds of years old, had been visited by these adventurous Norsemen.

Exceptional seasons and an exceptional state of the ice was what our elder navigators said.

Several subjects, such as marine zoology, the tides, pendulum observations, and terrestrial magnetism, were quite new to me, but the amount of work which a healthy man can accomplish in a short time, if he strains all his forces and goes straight to the root of the subject, no one would suppose beforehand.

And so my report was ready.

It concluded by advocating a great Arctic expedition, which would awaken in Russia a permanent interest in Arctic questions and Arctic navigation, and in the meantime a reconnoitering expedition on board a schooner chartered in Norway with its captain, pushing north or northeast of Novaya Zemlya.

This expedition, we suggested, might also try to reach, or at least to sight, an unknown land which must be situated at no great distance from Novaya Zemlya.

Technically, above Alaska is the Northwest Passage also, but when people think about the Northwest Passage, they're really thinking about the, the Arctic, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

But yeah, if I stay up there, I mean, obviously they're north, the, the FSB is north of Novaya Zemlya, um, because that's where they boarded me twice.

But, uh, they're not up by Franz Josef Land.

And it's nothing illegal.