Kamchatka, Brown Bears, and Volcanos on the Far Side of the Earth
A Kamchatka brown bear scratching his back in the sand. In Kamchatka salmon is plentiful and bears make time for relaxation and play. Sometimes they appear human-like. This is my favorite shot. Image: ©Larry Blau
Wildlife photographer, Larry Blau and a “friend” in Africa. Image: Andy Williams
As a young child, I frequently visited Madison Square Garden in New York City to watch my favorite hockey team, the New York Rangers, play. On one of those visits, I noticed that the "Moscow Circus" would soon be performing there.
✓ Trip Tips
Where: Russia’s far east. The Kamchatka Peninsula
Why: Kamchatka brown bear,
When: May-early September
I have always had a more than passing interest in Russia since my family’s maternal side was from Russia and my maternal grandfather, who was Russian, lived with us. I remember how he would put a sugar cube in his mouth while drinking his tea, a Russian custom.
My First Introduction to Russian Bears
The Moscow Circus was different from its Western counterparts and focused on Eastern European cultures. Bears, trained to perform, were one of the stars of the Moscow Circus. At that time, people overlooked the cruelty of the spectacle. I never forgot the bears I saw that night.
Many years later, an opportunity presented itself to relive the memory of those Russian bears with a photography trip to Kamchatka.
Kamchatka, A Land of “Risk,” Volcanoes, and Bears
Not many people have ever heard of Kamchatka, and the ones who have, usually know it from the board game Risk. People visit Kamchatka for two reasons, volcanoes and bears. Kamchatka has both in greater abundance than anywhere else in the world.
Roughly the size of California, the peninsula is approximately eighteen hundred miles east of Anchorage. But, Kamchatka was shrouded in military secrecy until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Then, for awhile, there were direct flights from Anchorage to Petropavlovsk, and that was our original plan, however, those direct flights were canceled when the government established the requirement that you fly into another Russian city first.
✍︎Editor’s Note: Direct flights, Anchorage-to-Petropavlovsk are restored, for now.
For more than half the year, snow buries Kamchatka. We thought that probably the best time to visit would be August when we could watch the bears in the final stages of bulking up for hibernation. And the volcanoes would still reachable before they became encased in ice.
Visiting Kamchatka seemed the perfect trip for me. I could satisfy my quest for volcanoes and bears, plus experience some of my ancestral culture. I remember when I was a boy and my grandfather would converse with me in broken Russian and fluent Yiddish. I am sure he could never imagine that I would visit the country of his birth.
The splendor of Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral of the Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. Visible from all over the city this is the largest and most striking in Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka. Tradition links gold with the sun and God’s energy. Image: ©Larry Blau
Journey to the Far Side of the World
My journey started with an Aeroflot nonstop flight from JFK to Moscow.
We landed in Moscow’s Sheremetyeva Airport about eleven AM, proceeded through the maze of immigration and customs, and then boarded our second flight at about four PM on Sunday for Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka.
There are eleven time zones in Russia. Kamchatka is in the most eastern time zone.
Sunday afternoon on the shoreline of Petropavlovsk. It struck me how distant and sober the local people were. Image: ©Larry Blau
It took us about ten hours to reach Petropavlovsk. After sleeping, eating, and reading for what seemed to be an eternity, our plane broke through the clouds, and we landed on Monday at about eleven AM in Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka. Approximately four hundred thousand people live in Kamchatka, with about 200,000 living in its capital and largest city.
Our local guides were waiting and brought us to a hotel for the night. A large stuffed bear greeted us in the lobby, and I was assigned a room that elsewhere would have a two or three-star classification, but here was advertised as five stars.
Journey to the Heart of the Earth
Plumes of ash and smoke are constant features. We had to cover our cameras and lenses due to the large amount of sulfur in the air. Image: ©Larry Blau
The following morning we checked out and boarded our Kamaz - a six-wheel all-terrain vehicle. We stepped up into a space fitted with lounge chairs and large windows for viewing. The first day's journey would take us twelve hours driving time to our remote campsite. The drive proved to be a great way to see how the people live by watching as we traveled through local villages and towns.
Lunch was a memorable experience. We stopped in what looked like a small city and went into a large building with no signs or windows. Our first priority was to get on the toilet line and then onto the cafeteria-style serving line. The server didn't allow us a choice but filled our plates up with small amounts of everything available plus two pieces of white bread. I can honestly say I could not identify what they served me.
Our twelve-hour journey finally ended in a valley overlooking volcanoes. While our staff set up our tents, we decided to explore, but swarms of mosquitoes immediately attacked us, so we just waited until our hosts finished the camp set-up. It never got entirely dark in this northern wilderness.
✍︎Editor’s Note: Kamchatka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of 5 main geothermal regions on the earth and part of the “Ring of Fire.”
For the following few days, we explored many of the active volcanoes of Kamchatka and were able to get up close and personal. I felt like I was witnessing the heart of the earth and watching her breathe. My mind kept wandering to the real reason why I had come here, and that was for the bears. Would I be disappointed, or would this trip satisfy my craving to see Russian bears where they belong?
The Kamchatka Peninsula is home to over three hundred volcanos and at least twenty nine were recently active. Image: ©Larry Blau
Getting close up to the pulse of earth in all its mighty fury. Image: ©Larry Blau
Back to Petropavlosk and Kamchatka’s Brown Bears
The evening we arrived back in Petropavlosk was spent with a shower and some sleep. The following morning we drove to a heliport where we boarded a military-style Russian helicopter for the one-hour flight to Kurilskoye or Kuril Lake. We all sat together with our luggage and enjoyed the flight over majestic volcanoes.
When we landed, forest rangers, dressed in their uniforms and carrying shotguns, met us.
Kamchatka Brown Bears can have a body length of ten feet when standing up on their hind legs and weigh over fourteen hundred pounds (635kg.) Image: ©Larry Blau
Electric fencing surrounded our campsite. I was assigned a nice large tent. The dining area was a permanent structure, and the toilet facilities were far better than a typical campsite. Since we had arrived and settled in by mid-morning, the game plan was to all meet at the dock, board a pontoon boat with two Rangers, and then go to the other side of the Lake to set up on a sandbar.
We immediately noticed a mother with her two cubs walking by the dock and were given some basic instructions on what to do and not do around the bears. We were also given rubber boots that reached right below our knees.
After a thirty-minute high-speed drive, we finally docked. Our staff set up eight folding chairs in a row on the sandbar, with lunch and beverages set up behind them.
The two forest rangers, with their loaded shotguns, stood one on each end of the row of chairs. Then the show started.
The splendor of a bear catching a moving fish is something to behold and this one was displaying his catch Image: ©Larry Blau
This is Where The Bears Belong
The Bears seemed to appear as if on a stage, and we had front row seats to witness these amazing creatures in their natural environment.
Unlike my childhood memories, this is where they belong. It seemed like the bears were performing only for my benefit. I watched them searching for sockeye salmon and felt a new appreciation for how difficult it is to capture a moving fish with your mouth. How did bears learn how to do this extraordinary feat? I could only imagine trying to do this.
Females give birth in January during hibernation. Cubs stay with their mothers for up to three years and form one of nature's strongest bonds. Image: ©Larry Blau
There were mothers protecting their young cubs. Cubs are born in January during hibernation, and one of the most potent natural bonds exists between a mother bear and her cubs. No matter where the mother walked, her cubs always followed.
The mortality rate for these cubs is about fifty percent. You could sense the unconditional love and affection the mothers had for their young.
Bears are very territorial, and males are constantly facing off. To watch two thousand-pound bears interact is something that you need to see to fully appreciated. They stand up on their hind legs and intertwine into each other. Water was splashing all around as one tried to outdo the other.
The following morning we decided to return to the same spot for an all-day encounter, and we were not disappointed.
A young male running towards me. Don’t let their size fool you, they are fast and mobile. Image: ©Larry Blau
The show immediately started again. Mother bears caring for their young, large males strutting around and acting as if they owned the place. And the interactions!
I started to study them more and became much more attuned. Now that I knew what to expect, I began to wait for that moment in time. I took particular interest in watching the bears catch the sockeye. How patient and still they were observing the water and then pouncing at the right moment.
Good to the last drop! Two bears eating the remains of their catch. Image: ©Larry Blau
Imagine a thousand-pound bear being patient and still and then knowing when to unleash his or her fury at the right moment. I renamed this show the "Kuril Circus."
Later in the day, sadness started to overcome me. I wanted this scene to last forever and knew that it always would - in my memory. I could have spent a week watching, observing, and learning from these majestic creatures.
A Plan - And Then a Change in Plans
Making his presence known and felt as he surveyed the bridge. Image: ©Larry Blau
After dinner, we decided to take a short hike to a wooden bridge that crossed over one of the tributaries leading to Kuril Lake. We planned to walk onto the pedestrian bridge and take pictures from that angle. When we arrived at the bridge, our plan came to an immediate halt.
Bears had taken over the bridge. They were walking back and forth, and some of them were using the bridge to search for sockeyes. When they found a fish, they would slide down the poles for their catch.
For me, this trip was all about the bears, and it exceeded all my expectations. Whenever I look at one of my bear pictures from Kuril Lake, I ask myself, where are these bears now? Are they OK? Have they managed another harsh winter? It seems like they became a part of my soul. How fortunate I am to have witnessed one of the great performances of nature.
Recently, some friends invited me to join them for a September trip to Alaska to observe the bears there. I turned down the offer. Having been able to enter the world of the Kamchatka bears is so special that I want this encounter into their world to be my only time I will observe bears.
Kamchatka is a hard place to visit, and it is not for everyone. I have always felt that you need to seek out and find those extraordinary places and moments in life. I would not trade my visit to the Kamchatka Bears for anything. I am sure my Grandfather is smiling.
Kamchatka is rich in sockeye salmon and during my visit, they were concentrating on eating as much as they could to stock up for the winter. It seems the brown bears of Kamchatka have become part of my soul Image: ©Larry Blau
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