Polar Bears Make Abandoned Buildings Their Homes, Russian Photographer Captures Them Beautifully

It looks like something out of an old fairytale.

Sophia

• Published in Animal Stories
• January 18, 2022

When we think of polar bears, we mostly picture them out laying around surrounded by snow and walking on all fours on the Arctic ice. They are the largest extant bear species and also the largest land carnivores, measuring about seven to eight feet long.

They encompass the vicinity of the Arctic ocean, so it's a surprise that a Russian photographer by the name of Dmitry Kokh was able to capture these bears making a home out of an abandoned weather station that was built in 1934 on Kolyuchin Island, located in the Chukchi Sea. The station has been closed since 1992, and the remains have served as home for a group of polar bears.

Even if the station may look like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie, the polar bears sure add a magical touch to the area. Their bright white coats of fur provide a beautiful contrast against the dull and abandoned atmosphere of the building, and the photos that were captured by Dmitry look like something out of an old fairytale.

“I always wanted to get some nice shots of polar bears, and that was the main target of our expedition. We expected to meet them mostly on Wrangel Island, famous all around the world for being home to many bears," says Dmitry.

"Not this year, as we found out later—maybe because of the very cold summer. But nature always sends you something when you least expect it—when we passed by Kolyuchin Island near the Northern coast of Chukotka, we saw some movement in the abandoned windows there," he adds.

"And when we got close—those were bears! Never before were they seen in those buildings, so that was a once-in-a-lifetime situation."

Check out the beautiful photos below.

Dmitry Kokh took some pretty amazing and mesmerizing photos of polar bears hanging around an abandoned weather station.

This photo is titled "Summer Season", showing a polar bear in the window. It became the best representation of wildlife in man-made environment, as bestowed in a competition by a magazine called Russia's Wildlife.

He had to travel to the far eastern part of the Russian Arctic just to get these beautiful shots.

This is how the abandoned weather station on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea looks like at a decent distance.

“Finally getting back from a long-awaited trip to Chukotka and Wrangel Island. Being the farthest and most eastern part of the Russian Arctic, this place is very hard to get to but also difficult to forget. We traveled by sailing yacht along the coast and covered more than 1200 miles of untouched landscapes, villages lost in time, diverse fauna, and seas full of life,” Dmitry said on his Instagram.

Just look at these two peeking out like some nosy neighbors.

This eerily looks like the end of the world.

Looks like something out of a movie, too!

"I always wanted to get some nice shots of polar bears, and that was the main target of our expedition,” said the photographer.

What you lookin' at?

A beautiful shot.

They seem to like being captured, too!

Dmitry also captured some photos of these polar bears enjoying a more natural habitat for them.

So refreshing!

We are definitely so thankful for these wildlife photographers for allowing us to see these beautiful moments in nature. There are truly a lot of amazing things in this world that just need to be captured, but unfortunately, sometimes the photos don't even give justice to how beautiful they really are up close!

Dmitry did a great job for these polar bears, though. Share this article for all your family and friends to see!

Sophia