The adventure comes to a close

Yesterday evening at around 8:30, the entire Baikal team emerged from Customs at Logan airport and met up with family and friends, or continued to their final destinations. That concludes the 2016 Baikal course. Sincere thanks and best wishes to all the participants and to everyone who supported them on their adventure!

Tom

Landed safely at Logan Airport

We're in Boston, slowly approaching our gate.
Tom

Boarding final flight!

We made it to Frankfurt fine and will board our Boston-bound flight in a minute. Should arrive at Logan around 8:00 pm.

Tom

Junk-food snacking on way out of Russia!

About to leave Moscow!

Flight from Irkutsk went great. We're about to go through security before we board our Moscow-Frankfurt flight, Lufthansa 1445. Everything's going fine and all are healthy and happy. Fingers crossed for no delays!
Tom

Made our Moscow flight just fine

Everyone's aboard our Moscow-bound flight out of Irkutsk. Next stop: Domodedovo Airport. So far, so good.
Tom

Sunset in Irkutsk...

Today we said a fond farewell to the beautiful city of Irkutsk. It was a day of shopping, strolling, and leave-taking. After our farewell dinner, students and instructors celebrated at the Bochka Tavern in the city center. Helena handed out "Most Likely to..." awards to all participants, and the translators (Kolya, Dima, and special guest Vitya) gave special Buryat gifts to all of us. Tomorrow we leave our hotel at 7:00 a.m. for the airport. We'll do our best to update the blog as we progress westward on a very long Friday!

Tom Hodge

Bye-kal

Our last morning at the Bol'shie Koty biostation was rainy -- the perfect weather for angsty last walks on the beach. The sun came out in time for us to say goodbye to beloved biostation staff and the captain and mate of the Kozhov before we boarded the hydrofoil for Listvyanka.

We were especially sad to leave Olga, our cleaning lady, who we at first just knew as "Super Nice Lady," until she became our mom in Bol'shie Koty. Olga always made sure we sat on cloths instead of the cold ground, scolded us for our messes, told us to hang garlic in our living room to keep away evil spirits, and gave us endless nicknames (little dogs, raspberries, baby goats…)

Our next stop was Tal'tsy, where we visited the Museum of Wooden Architecture. We toured various traditional Siberian houses, which had been relocated and preserved from areas flooded by the construction of the Bratsk Dam and other reservoirs. Our guide conducted the tour in a leopard print jumpsuit and six inch platform heels with hiking treads. It was awesome. Some of our group let loose and played on old Cossack-style swings, while others watched sedately from afar.

We're writing now from our old hotel in Irkutsk, where the wifi is spotty, and the mayonnaise is plentiful. We all deeply miss the delicious cooking at Baikal; also Internet access is way less fun than we thought it was a month ago.

Tomorrow is our last day in Russia before we depart, so this will be the last time you hear from your favorite bloggers at the end of the alphabet (t'fu t'fu t'fu).

Yours still and always in squad formation,

Evan and Zoe

Last day in Bol'shie Koty

The entire Wellesley team had a bittersweet last full day at the
biostation today, and I'm posting a short entry myself to give them a
break from blogging as they enjoy their final evening here together.
Some people packed, others took hikes, and all of us gathered for a
farewell dinner at which we thanked the wonderful staffers who made
this visit a great success.
Birding note: We've been seeing and hearing lots of Eurasian Hobbies
(Falco subbuteo) around Baikal, and today I finally got a decent shot
of one perched. Sorry about the poor resolution.
Fungus note: Our Station Manager, Elena Shipitsina, gathered a huge
number of edible mushrooms today, including -- as you can see in the
photo -- the species most prized by Russians: Boletus edulis, which
they call the "white mushroom." Italians call them porcini, Germans --
Steinpilz, the French -- cèpe. Delicious in any language!
Tom Hodge, Co-Instructor

Walks of Life

Today we regained our land-legs in dramatic fashion -- half of us went
on a beautiful forest valley walk, while the other half hiked up the
side of a mountain.
The valley walk consisted primarily of two things: avoiding ants, and
spotting birds. Professor Rodenhouse showed us firsthand how formic
acid from an ant hill can act as insect repellent by rubbing his hand
on an ant hill very nearly as tall as he is. Literal hand. Yikes. On a
less terrifying note, we spotted a Great Spotted Woodpecker, listened
to the creaking of the birch trees, and marveled at the swiftness and
water volume of the streams after the storm.
The mountain hikers went north along Baikal to a set of crags known as
"Skriper." It was a delightfully steep climb, with multiple high view
points looking out over the lake and surrounding forests. We ate
lunches kindly packed for us by the kitchen staff, took naps on the
beach, and then hiked back to the Biostation in time for hot showers
and dinner. Highlights of the trip included viewing fog patterns
caused by the recent cold upwelling in the waters of the lake, and
eating hard boiled eggs on a precarious bluff. Low points included
ants. So many ants.
We are all safely back at the Biostation now, about to spend the
evening catching up on journaling while watching a movie called "The
Way Back," in which Baikal plays a significant role.
Rosamond and Abby

Embracing our inner Bol’shie Koty (Big Cats)

After a night of camping out on the boat deck, watching the sun rise
in our sleeping bags was the perfect beginning to our final day of the
expedition. On our way back to Bol'shie Koty, we stopped by a cliff
side near Sagan-Zaba Bay to see if we could make out the ancient
petroglyphs (about 4,500 years old). The modern graffiti tags made
searching for the petroglyphs a challenge, but with the help of our
trusty binoculars we caught a glimpse of the triangular people and
geese. Afterward, the group on the Kozhov enjoyed structured bonding
over tea, while those on the Vershina took turns steering the cutter.
In the final stretch, we alternated cat-napping with packing and
arrived at Bol'shie Koty before we knew it -- around 7:00 p.m.
Lyuba and Hayley

Update: Almost back to Bol'shie Koty

As the Kozhov and Vershina steam southward along Baikal's western
shore, I'm taking advantage of the cell towers of Bol'shoe Goloustnoe
to let our followers know that we've made great time and are about 2
hours from Bol'shie Koty, our home away from home. A full blog post is
forthcoming later this evening.
Tom Hodge, Co-Instructor

On Ol'khon Island

Some of us started our day very early (about 5:45) to go on a sunrise
hike. By the time that group got back, Sergei Sergeevich and Aleksei
had pulled in their gillnet. They caught roughly a hundred perch, five
pike, and one whitefish. Students from both boats pitched in to pick
the fish out of the net and clean them so that we could get underway
(the fish are now drying on a line at the top of the Kozhov).
Our next stop was a Tibetan Buddhist Stupa on Ogoi Island. Stupas are
abstract monuments meant to look like Buddha meditating. At a Stupa,
it is traditional to walk around the monument clockwise, wishing
happiness to all beings. The many visitors had left coins and pieces
of cloth as offerings at the Stupa.
After that we went to Khuzhir, a town with a rich history in the
fishing industry. We moored to a rusted-out shipping vessel and while
overlooking the beautiful cliffs of Shaman Rock, we enjoyed Vera's
delicious borshch (with a healthy dollop of sour cream), salad, pork,
buckwheat, and the perch we had caught and cleaned that morning.
In Soviet times, Khuzhir was a huge government-funded fish-canning
center, which is no longer in operation. We visited a local museum
whose eclectic collection included minerals, taxidermy, children's art
commemorating the victory of World War 2, folk arts and crafts, huge
cans of omul (the best known fish in Baikal), and other artifacts of
local history. After that, we explored the town and did some shopping.
As of this writing, we are sitting on the deck of the Vershina as we
head back to Olkhon, where we will stay the night. Since we finally
have blue skies, we're hoping to sleep outside, under the stars.
Helena and Rebecca

The storm cleared for Lyuba!

Early this morning the storm wind changed and our captains were forced
leave the bay before we were blown into the coast. Once out in the
open water, they found that the weather wasn't too bad. It was decided
that we would attempt to dash up to Ol'khon Island. After 7 hours of
travel we finally made it to Maloe More (The Little Sea), on Ol'khon,
where we were set free to explore the steppe environment.
After our exploration, we all returned to begin festivities for
Lyuba's birthday. Vera, our unbelievable cook, made an amazing spread
filled with fruits, cake, and even bananas! Finally, after what seems
like an eternity, we could eat and celebrate together in the open air
and out of the cramped quarters of the boats.
Selina and Sarah

Safe and sound on Ol'khon Island

Update Friday 8/12/16:
Early this morning the wind changed direction and our two ships set
out from Bukhta Peschanaia before first light and steamed northward
over heavy swells, but everyone did fine. Halfway through the day, the
waves calmed down. We made it safe and sound to a quiet bay at the
southern tip of Ol'khon Island -- precisely where we should have been
about 48 hours ago, if not for the storm. We'll send a fuller entry,
with photos, soon. For now, the students have fanned out over the
stunning steppe country and are drinking in dramatic vistas over the
Maloe More (Little Sea).
Tom Hodge, Co-Instructor

Stranded but not shipwrecked

Thursday, 8/11/16: Stranded but not shipwrecked
We spent a stormy night on the boats listening to the screeching of
the tires tethered to the sides of the boats scraping against the
dock, which was shedding chunks of wood at regular intervals. Nobody
fell out of their bed, but we woke up to the news that we would have
to spend the whole day at Bukhta Peschanaia waiting for the storm to
subside. At the time of writing, the wind is still gusting at up to 25
meters per second and the waves on Baikal are too high to safely leave
shore. Professor Rodenhouse took wind speed measurements with
enthusiasm: max. 27 m/sec.
Not wanting to be stuck on the boats all day, most of the group went
on a hike to Granddaughter's Cove (right next to Grandmother's Cove),
led by Vera, who it seems is not only an amazing cook, but also a
skilled trail guide and an avid polar plunger. She and Kolya inspired
four students to jump in the lake as well. It was freezing, but again,
no hypothermia. The rest of the group held down the fort on the Kozhov
and the Vershina, staying cozy with tea and journaling.
Professor Hodge is currently DJ-ing a pre-lunch hangout in the "Man
Hold" onboard the Kozhov. He will not let us report on his choice of
music. Later this afternoon we all plan on heading to the banya to
warm up and make the best of our storm stranding by experiencing some
Siberian culture. We are also excited to get clean in the interest of
maintaining friendships in the close quarters onboard.
We're hoping that the storm will end in the wee hours of the morning,
so we can be on our way. #Pray4Us
Yours in squad formation,
Evan and Zoe

Storm on Baikal

Wednesday, 8/10/16:
Today we left for our five-day adventure on the lake. Our group is
split into two boats, the Kozhov and the Vershina -- both boats made
their way from Bolshie Koty up the Western coast to Bukhta Peschanaia
(Sandy Cove). We pulled over for lunch and to shelter from the storm
that was starting around midday. We wound up staying here through the
night, waiting out what turned out to be a major wind storm (the wind
is called Nagornaia, and reached a windspeed of 22 meters per second
today). Our two youngest crew members realized that these conditions
were perfect for body surfing. Don't worry, though—we are now cozy in
our boats, eating great food made by our indomitable cook Vera, and
making hypothetical wrestling brackets. Other boats on the lake also
camped out here for the night. We're staying here at least through the
morning, and if the weather breaks we'll continue on our journey
tomorrow to Olkhon Island!
Maddy and Annie

All well: 2 day storm delay

Greetings! A severe storm on Baikal forced us to hunker down in port for two days at Bukhta Peschanaia (Sandy Cove), where we hiked, ate great food, and steamed in the banya. Everyone is fine! Will try to do full blog entries this evening, but cell reception is hard to come by.
Tom Hodge, Co-Instructor

IMPORTANT: Spotty internet access next 5 days

Faithful followers of the 2016 Baikal blog:
Please be aware that tomorrow (Wed. 8/10) at 8:00 a.m. we leave on two
cutter ships, the Kozhov and the Vershina, for our five-day expedition
to the north basin of Lake Baikal, via Ol'khon Island, Chivyrkuiskii
Bay, and the Ushkan'i Islands, returning on Mon. 8/15. It's possible
that our cellular network access will be shaky and that we won't be
able to post blog entries daily. Please be assured that all is well
and we'll post when we can. Thanks,
Tom Hodge, Co-Instructor

Points of (Inter)view

An update which you will be glad to read: thanks to the intervention
of several friendly, garden-owning residents of Bol'shie Koty, our
stomachs are full of smoked grayling, fresh raspberries and currents,
and zhuchki ("little beetles" -- actually small and tasty pastries),
while our living room is empty of evil spirits (we hung up a head of
fresh garlic, as instructed, above the window). Our heads, meanwhile,
are full of new information. We had the pleasure today of interviewing
local researchers, technicians, gardeners and cooks -- they told us
stories of how their families came to Baikal, of what the lake means
to them, and of cyclical seal population data; they even gave some of
us relationship advice. In the photo, that's Zoe and Evan interviewing
our beloved Liudmila Nikolaevna Riapenko.
In the afternoon, we were visited by Svetlana Dobrynina, the head of
the Ecological Enlightenment Bureau for Baikalo-Lenskii Reserve.
She presented some facts and figures (as well as some amusing
anecdotes) about the history of the Russian National Park system. A
group favorite factoid: Baikalo-Lenskii Reserve is home to
Russia's largest population of bears. Park rangers, in an effort to
not disturb the environment, do not engage the bears in any way.
Instead, they hide from the bears in their huts and allow them to
wreak what havoc they will.
We even had time today to engage in one of our favorite past times at
the Biostation: entertaining eight-year-old Diana. In the photos, you
can see us playing rambunctious card games with her.
Tomorrow we depart on our five-day expedition by cutter to several of
the most famous islands of Lake Baikal. Preparations are (s)well
underway, and we are aboat ready to go. Sea you later!
Rosamond and Abby

P.S.: Evan would like to wish a happy anniversary to her parents :).
Apologies for being one day late… I got distracted yesterday by
climbing a mountain. Typical. Also, happy birthday today to my lil
bro! Thanks for 20 years of big sister status. Can't wait to compare
boat stories when I get back. Sending much love from Siberia.

The day we made friends (of the four-legged variety)

In comparison to the last few days, this morning felt like a much
needed break. We sprawled around the biostation catching up on our
daily journals without any real sense of urgency, glancing up at the
mountains whenever we needed a boost of inspiration. Lunch came and
went. We soon set out to visit a local farm in the village of Bol'shie
Koty. A lovely woman named Irina greeted us and gave us a small tour
of her animals and garden. We didn't really know what to expect -- but
as soon as the first cat showed up, everyone was completely at peace.
The cat named Sonia was as old as some in our group, coming in at 19
years young. It's no surprise, since only the strong survive Siberian
winters. We also got to meet some of the other residents, including a
bunch of friendly goats, a flock of turkeys, a family of hares, and
one incredibly tiny dog named Jack. Irina treated us to some fresh,
delicious goat's milk and showed us some of her handcrafted souvenirs
inspired by Bol'shie Koty (because everyone needs a hobby to pass the
time in the winter here). Irina's estate felt like a beautiful,
isolated world away from the rest of the village. Around every corner,
there was some kind of fruit tree, vegetable patch, or animal. The
rest of the afternoon, our group split up to either hike, to catch up
on some laundry, or to do some recreational reading near the shore of
Baikal. We could definitely get used to a life like this.
Hayley and Lyuba

Writing up our results, steeping in Buryat culture

The day was occupied with a mad dash to write up the findings of our
experiments. Since Abby and Helena's experiment is more long-term and
they do not have their data yet, they have been organizing our work
into a cohesive whole (thanks Helena and Abby!). As of this moment,
at 9:15 pm, the race is still on. Some of us occasionally took breaks
to play Frisbee, consume copious amounts of caffeine, and sprint into
the lake. The super nice cleaning lady brought a butterfly into the
lab to lift our spirits. It died.
From 4:00 to 6:00, we had a real treat: Vladimir Munkhanov came to
speak with us. Munkhanov is a Buryat, a member of an indigenous
Siberian community, a great friend to the course, and the uncle of our
interpreter, Vitya. Our group first met Munkhanov over skype during
the school year, but what a blast to finally meet him in the flesh!
Today he taught us about Buryat culture, history, and religion, and
accompanied Professor Hodge on a truly scenic hike up the Malaia
Kotynka creek. We asked Professor Hodge to rate the fun of his hike on
a scale of 1-10 and he said a 9 (would have been a 10 if not for the
pestering flies). We're all jealous and already planning our own
excursions (of course after all of our work is done)!
Rebecca and Sarah

Plants and Ants

Today we traveled on the Kozhov to a Zona pokoia (a "quiet zone"
within Pribaikal'skii National Park) north of Bolsh'ie Koty. Here,
Andrei Lishtva and Sergei Kaliuzhnyi -- botanists from Irkutsk State
University -- gave us a tour of the local flora and fauna. It was a
beautiful hike along the lake through fields teaming with local
flowers. Selina's favorite was the yellow aconite. Aconite produces a
deadly alkaloid poison that is hard to trace. I (Sarah) am concerned
for our team's safety. If any of us mysteriously die, you know who to
look to.
At the end of our hike was a grouping of stromatolites that are 2.7
BILLION YEARS OLD! That's many times older than Lake Baikal! These
stromatolites are a fossilized grouping of cyanobacteria whose
chemosynthesis helped create our original atmosphere.
Moving on from the ancient plants to modern, not fossilized plants, we
also took transects of local plants. We were attempting to test out
our new found plant identification abilities. Thankfully, Andrei and
Sergei were there to help facilitate our efforts. One group found 18
species in just one square meter! Biodiversity in the National Park is
amazing!
In addition to learning the flora of the local area we also adventured
around a small valley. The botanists led us up a very steep slope to a
large cave, where many of us braved our claustrophobia to find a huge
limestone cavern with stalagmites inside. The cave was a hard hike;
after we were tired, hungry, and covered in ants (we don't want to
talk about it). In an attempt to clean and rejuvenate ourselves we
decided to go for a dip in the lake. A cool and cleansing swim was a
great end to the day. Afterwards we were all so tired we fell asleep
on the deck of the Kozhov on our way back to the biostation.
Much love,
(A very tired) Selina and Sarah

The Paradox of the Hairless Homo Sapiens

On our third day of rainy weather, we finally got to stay dry. No cold
water wading or swimming today. We analyzed data from our fieldwork
and prepared presentations for our classmates, professors, and three
visiting Ph.D. students from the Irkutsk State University Limnological
Institute.
Unfortunately just before lunch we had to say goodbye to Vitya, one of
our translators. It's okay though: he's promised to follow us all on
Instagram. Vitya has been succeeded by Dima, a young but brave soul
who has been a good sport about being interrogated by 12 Wellesley
Women.
After lunch we presented our preliminary research findings to the
Russian grad students and then said goodbye to them as well. We worked
off the academic exhaustion with a trip to the kiosk in Bol'shie Koty,
followed by a Canadian documentary about the migration of early
Siberians to America. The documentary's special effects were
objectively horrible, but we had a great time heckling the angsty
narrator.
Yours in squad formation,
Zoe and Evan

Lichen and Algae and Water Bears, Oh My!

Today was another very busy day -- Professor Timoshkin's three
excellent graduate students, Yulia, Olya, and Katya, each presented on
their fields of research. Afterward, they lead us out to the field for
first-hand experience on their sampling methods. After collecting
samples we brought them back to the lab and looked at what we found,
including the famous tardigrade, or "water bear" (see picture, above,
through microscope, but also look them up! They're so cool!)! We
looked at several different species and life stages of algae and worms
as well. In the afternoon, we got more of our own data collection and
analysis done for our field projects. Tonight we will build a bonfire
to relax after a long day of work and share some time with our friend
and translator, Vitya, who will leave us tomorrow to go to Moscow.
Annie sends her love to her family! Maddy does as well, and wants the
fam to know she is alive and well, just missing Italian food (but
Russian food is great too). Annie misses sriracha but other than that
she's doing great.
Maddy and Annie

I Sea Gammarids in My Dreams

This morning we narrowly escaped the effects of hypothermia as we
completed our data collection (in the rain) for the first field
problem and began analysis (after a hearty, warm meal). In the
following picture you can see the extremely laborious process of
sorting and quantifying the gammarids (tiny weird shrimp things that
people don't eat) collected by the invertebrate testing group. Lake
Baikal contains an average of 30,000 gammarids per square meter -- as
you can imagine, analyzing the organisms in even a small amount of
lake water has provided us with quite a challenge.
In the afternoon many of the groups returned to various beaches along
Baikal to complete more testing. The invertebrate group scooped up a
few last buckets of wee beasties, the grazer exclusion group free-dove
their Final Four exclusion pens at Bol'shaia Kotynka and Chernaia Pad'
into place, and the dissolved oxygen/temperature/conductivity group
did a ton of sciencey stuff, such as placing 24 hour temperature
probes and measuring conductivity. Back in the lab, the coliform
bacteria/nitrate group tossed test tubes around in search of germs
until dinner.
After thoroughly sterilizing our hands and enjoying another excellent,
hot meal, we were treated to a lecture by renowned Russian ecologist
and Lake Baikal specialist, Oleg Timoshkin. Prof. Timoshkin (along
with three of his grad students) will be staying with us at the
Biostation and providing some experimental guidance for the next few
days. Tomorrow we will hear from these students, Yulia, Katya, and
Olya, about their research.
Abby and Rosamond

Eating for Millions

Our day began with a brainstorming session about picking sampling
locations and designing a standardized methodology for our
experiments. We sketched X's and O's on a diagram of a tributary
stream for about an hour -- in other words, a football game plan for
field biologists. Even though we spent hours planning, each group ran
into a number of technical difficulties. The cold waves made gathering
samples in the substrate a test of mental fortitude, but we happily
risked hypothermia for science (just kidding, parents -- we're all
fine). Indoors, calibrating the equipment we use for measuring
dissolved oxygen in the water turned into a smack down between the PC
and the Mac people. The PC camp (surprisingly) won. In the afternoon,
our team hiked north to Malaia Sennaia where we dove underwater to
finish sample collecting and installing logging instruments for the
day. But the work is far from over: during dinner we embraced our
maternal instinct by incubating colonies of E. coli collected today in
our Baikal chic belts. In about 24 hours, we'll be proud parents to
millions of new bacteria.
Lyuba and Hayley