Polar Bears Make Abandoned Buildings Their Homes, Russian Photographer Captures Them Beautifully
When we think of polar bears, we mostly picture them lounging 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 inhabit the vicinity of the Arctic Ocean, so it's surprising that a Russian photographer named Dmitry Kokh was able to capture these bears making a home out of an abandoned weather station built in 1934 on Kolyuchin Island, located in the Chukchi Sea. The station has been closed since 1992, and its remains have served as a home for a group of polar bears.
Even though the station may look like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie, the polar bears certainly 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 captured by Dmitry resemble 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 encounter them mostly on Wrangel Island, famous worldwide for being home to many bears,” says Dmitry.
“Not this year, as we found out later—perhaps 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! They had never been seen in those buildings before, so that was a once-in-a-lifetime situation.”
Check out the beautiful photos below.
Dmitry Kokh took some 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 a man-made environment, as awarded 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 from a 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 reach but also difficult to forget. We traveled by sailing yacht along the coast and covered more than 1,200 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 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 are you looking at?
A beautiful shot.
They seem to enjoy being photographed, too!
Dmitry also captured some photos of these polar bears enjoying a more natural habitat.
So refreshing!
We are truly grateful to these wildlife photographers for allowing us to witness these beautiful moments in nature. There are so many amazing things in this world that need to be captured, but unfortunately, sometimes the photos don't do justice to how beautiful they really are up close!
Dmitry did a fantastic job capturing these polar bears, though. Share this article with all your family and friends to see!
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