Employees of Russian Arctic National Park are preparing for expeditions to Novaya Zemlya and the Franz Josef Land archipelago. Both of them are scheduled to begin this summer, according to the website of the international forum The Arctic: Today and the Future.

"Expeditions will sail off  in the summer. We plan to do various research in various sections of Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land. These expeditions will have several times more staff than the one that has just come back from Franz Josef Land," said Ivan Mizin, the national park's deputy director for research.

The results of the expeditions will be added to the database on key species of sea mammals. The expedition members will also gather geological data from Franz Josef Land islands, data needed to assess the impact of climate changes on the Arctic ecosystems and information about chemical pollutants found in living organisms inhabiting the national park. Over 20 employees of the park as well as researchers from Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Arkhangelsk Region and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area will take part in the expeditions.