Dmitry Kokh's Image

Dmitry Kokh (Russia) shares an otherworldly encounter of polar bears taking over an abandoned settlement.

As Dmitry's boat approached the small, uninhabited island of Kolyuchin in the remote Russian Far East, the last thing he expected to see was a figure at the window of a house. Gazing through his binoculars, Dmitry was astonished to see more than 20 polar bears exploring the ghost town. It was too dangerous to land, so he used his low-noise drone to document the surreal experience.

Following the break-up of the USSR in the early 1990s the small settlement on the island was abandoned and the weather station closed. Polar bears are extremely inquisitive and will often investigate abandoned places in search of food. With climate change reducing sea ice, it is becoming increasingly difficult for polar bears to hunt, pushing them to move closer to human settlements to scavenge.