Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 09/08/2007 - 10:29

why did it take so long to get to the islands? (Olivia W)

Misty Nikula

OliviaI am not sure if you mean from the United States or from Sakhalin Island, but I will tell you that primarily it took a long time for two reasons.  One - it was a long way to go.  We had to fly through Seoul and take a very SLOW boat from Korsakov.  It took so long is because it is a very isolated place so there are not very many ways to get there.  The final reason is because we had to wait a long time for things to be ready for us - to get the clearances from the Russian government to travel there and to get all of our gear and things ready to take on the ship.  We can't bring EVERYthing that we need for 4 weeks in the field, so some of the things we need to buy or prepare in Russia (like the screens).
Ms Nikula