19 February 2022 | New Scientist | 31Bearbnb
AN ABANDONED weather station
and its surrounding settlement
is an unconventional place to find
polar bears, but then we are living
in unconventional times.
Wildlife photographer Dmitry
Kokh happened upon the animals
when the boat he was on took
shelter from a storm at the
Russian island of Kolyuchin
in September 2021. It was too
dangerous to walk on the island,
so he took pictures of the station’s
unusual residents using a camera
drone fitted with low-noise
propellers, so as not to disturb
the bears too much.
According to Kokh, there were
about 20 individuals in sight,
most of them male. Kolyuchin,
off the coast of eastern Russia
in the Chukchi Sea, hasn’t been
inhabited by people for decades.
It is also surrounded by sea ice –
polar bears’ primary habitat – for
most of the year, giving the bears
easy access to the island in time
for summer, when sea ice wanes.
Whatever environmental
conditions or opportunities
for hunting led the animals to
Kolyuchin, they certainly seemed
to be making the most of their
home comforts. ❚
Gege Li
Photographer Dmitry Kokh