Expedition to Sakhalin
Students and staff of the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology took part in a scientific expedition
The primary goal of the trip was to study the diversity of cnidarians in the bay; however, the participants also encountered a wide range of other invertebrates (and other creatures!) and collected material to expand the faculty's practical coursework.
Before arriving at the station itself, the students toured the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Local History Museum, where they viewed the "Sakhalin dinosaur" and other ancient inhabitants, and learned about the history of Sakhalin’s settlement and the lives of the indigenous peoples who inhabited the island. They also visited the botanical garden to explore the local flora, including the giant-sized butterbur (*Petasites*), the relict *Ginkgo biloba* tree, and an extensive collection of honeysuckle (*Lonicera*) species.
A variety of biotopes awaited the students for study; some were accessible right at the station, while others required long hikes. The students examined communities associated with seaweed wrack lines, rocky and muddy-sandy intertidal zones, and the sublittoral zone. Motorboat excursions made it possible to collect plankton samples at depths of up to 25 meters near Cape Anastasia and in the La Pérouse Strait. Particularly fascinating specimens were collected by the station's diving team. A Japanese settlement and a fish-processing plant once stood on the site of the station, so the area was rich in artifacts from the past; underfoot, "Karafuto tears"—shards of Japanese porcelain still washed up by the waves—glimmered frequently.
Large, striking marine creatures caught the eye—such as numerous hydromedusae of the genus *Polyorchis*, compass jellyfish (*Chrysaora melanaster*) and lion's mane jellyfish (*Cyanea capillata*) cast ashore by storms, and live sea anemones, crabs, and scallops peering out grumpily from beneath their shells with their many tiny eyes. Spotting small, inconspicuous hydropolyp colonies required peering closely into the thickets of brown and red algae, yet they revealed a remarkable diversity when viewed under a binocular microscope. Hydromedusae of various developmental stages were found primarily in plankton samples. In total, the team identified over twenty species of cnidarians. Some expedition members mastered photomicrography, allowing them to document their finds for posterity. There was also a successful attempt to rear a hydropolyp from a free-swimming, non-feeding larva—a planula.
Amidst the hydropolyp thickets, the team also admired nudibranchs—sea slugs that feed on the polyps to appropriate their venomous stinging cells. The students were particularly struck by the graceful skeleton shrimp perched on the algae fronds and the giant *Cryptochiton stelleri*—a massive chiton whose shell plates are concealed beneath a fleshy mantle. Plankton samples were rich in larvae of echinoderms (starfish and sea urchins), polychaete worms, phoronids, and hemichordates, as well as adult cladocerans, copepods, and chaetognaths (arrow worms).
Many organisms were preserved for further study and use in invertebrate zoology practical classes. Shells of marine mollusks were collected—including bivalves (oysters, *Spisula* clams, scallops, and Pacific littleneck clams) and gastropods (such as periwinkles, auger snails, and moon snails)—and a small herbarium was assembled to supplement phycology lessons. The trip also involved digging up lugworms—polychaetes that live in large colonies and construct U-shaped burrows in silty-sandy sediment.
In addition, the students met Anton Olegovich Chugunov, editor-in-chief and co-founder of the website "Biomolecula," who gave lectures on the use of artificial intelligence to predict protein structures. They also attended a fish dissection demonstration aimed at identifying parasites, conducted by Ilya Ivanovich Gordeev, Scientific Director of the Aniva Biological Station and Senior Researcher at VNIRO.
The Aniva Biological Station proved to be a place where pristine natural beauty and rich biodiversity exist in harmony with the people engaged in scientific work. Memories of the trip will long remain with us.
Date
August 19, 2026