A helicopter expedition to islands in the Kara Sea, AviaKara-2015, was held in April 2015. Over the course of a week, experts from the Russian Arctic National Park and the World Wildlife Fund explored islands in the northeast of the Kara Sea and an area in the northwest of the Laptev Sea to estimate the number of polar bears, marine mammals and birds living there. The studies were conducted to develop recommendations for improving protection of the main Arctic species and their habitats.