Wrangel Island, Russia Photograph by Nikita Ovsyanikov   Wrangel and Herald Islands in Arctic Russia Tundra   2,900 square miles (7,500 square kilometers) -- about the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined Relatively Stable/Intact

· Surrounded by Ice
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Surrounded by Ice

These arctic islands are encircled by ice for most of the year. Located northwest of the Bering Strait, the Wrangel and Herald Islands provide nesting grounds for thousands of sea birds--and hunting grounds for polar bears.

Special Features

The ice around these islands melts only in the summertime. During the rest of the year, these islands are surrounded by ice. Mountains rise more than 3,600 feet (1100 m) on Wrangel Island, with tundra and wetland vegetation in the lowlands surrounding various lakes, the largest being Jack London Lake. On the much smaller Herald Island, mountains rise to just 1,194 feet (364 m), with the only vegetation being patchy alpine tundra above the rocky coastal cliffs.

	The favorite meal of Pacific walruses is clams. They dig up the clams from the sea bottom with their snouts or blow them loose with a jet of water before sucking the meat from their shells.

Wild Side

Fifty species of birds nest on Wrangel Island, including a major breeding colony of snow geese and several colonies of Pacific black brants. There is also a large number of seabirds, which points to the abundance of fish and invertebrate life in the ocean surrounding the islands. In addition, nearly 80 percent of the local breeding female polar bears give birth to cubs on Wrangel and Herald Islands. Polar bears hunt here during winter, too, seeking out the islands’ population of ringed and bearded seals. Nearly half the world’s Pacific walruses (more than 100,000 animals) use the islands for raising their offspring during summer months. Bowhead and gray whales are found in the Chukchi Sea around Wrangel Island as well.

Cause for Concern

Although Wrangel Island is formally protected as a reserve, its remote location makes it an extremely expensive and difficult area to manage. A proposed shipping route in the northern Arctic could lead to oil spills and the accidental introduction of rats. Global warming could alter the distribution of pack ice in the Bering Strait and affect ice as a habitat for numerous species.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.