20 scientific programs will be implemented by our scientists this year

A large amount of scientific field work will traditionally be devoted to the research of sockeye salmon, which goes for reproduction to the Kuril Lake on the territory of the South Kamchatka Nature Reserve. Kamchatka scientists will continue to monitor the condition of Asia's largest herd of these Pacific salmon and their habitat. For the third year in a row, within the framework of a joint program of the reserve and the Institute of Biology of Inland Waters of the Russian Academy of Sciences, there will be assessment of the distribution and occupancyof sockeye salmon spawning grounds in the littoral of the lake. It is quite important because the well-being of the inhabitants of the reserve, primarily bears and other fish-eating animals, depends on wild salmon.

Research on marine mammals will also be continued. The field work will include records of real seals (antur, larga) on island and coastal rookeries and registration of encounters with rare species of cetaceans in the waters of the Kronotsky Reserve and the South Kamchatka Reserve. The program of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences includes studies of gray whales in Olga Bay, and scientists from the Kamchatka branch of the Pacific Institute of Geography of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences plan to conduct surveys of large cetaceans in the waters of the Kronotsky Reserve.

A number of programs are devoted to research in the volcanic areas of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve and the South Kamchatka Nature Reserve. In particular, in the Geysernaya River valley, the staff of the reserve and the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences will continue to study the geysers operation modes and the processes of restoring of geysers damaged during natural disasters. Scientists of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences will return to research on the specifics of landslides in the Uzon-Geyser region.

In continuation of the research on the mechanisms of evolution, ichthyologists of the Kronotsky Reserve will carry out work on the study of chars living in freshwater reservoirs in the protected and adjacent territories.  The smallest and even microscopic organisms will not be ignored. In the Koryak Nature Reserve and beyond, scientists from St. Petersburg State University plan to study the species composition of aquatic invertebrates. And the staff of the Federal Research Center for Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences will conduct a study of the microbial communities of the hot springs of the Uzon volcano caldera.