Where is the Kuril Lake. Kuril Lake. Salmon in the splendor of crimson

The Kamchatka Peninsula owes its mountainous volcanic relief to a turbulent geological past, when it sank into the ocean and then rose above it again. The activity has not disappeared to this day: seismic stations record up to 800 earthquakes a year, and three dozen volcanoes (out of three hundred in total) remind themselves from time to time with powerful (and not so powerful) eruptions.

In the basin of one of the long-extinct Kamchatka volcanoes (caldera), lies the picturesque Kuril Lake. This is the second largest freshwater body of water in Kamchatka: 77 sq. kilometers (larger is only Kronotskoe Lake with an area of 242 sq. kilometers). Its average depth is estimated at 195 meters, and the maximum reaches 316 meters.

Kuril Lake is located on the territory of the South Kamchatka Nature Reserve, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, at an altitude of 104 meters above sea level. Its surface is decorated with islands of volcanic origin: Chayachy, Nizkiy, Heart of Alaid and the Samang archipelago: domes made of lava up to 300 meters high.

Adjacent to the northeastern part of the reservoir is the active 1578-meter Ilyinsky volcano with an ideal conical shape. Its lava flows descend directly into the lake, forming several bays. And the western coast is framed by the Wild Ridge ridge with its highest elevation of 1080 meters. In calm, clear weather, volcanoes, as if in a mirror, are reflected on the surface of the lake, creating fantastically beautiful landscapes.

The lake is fed by snow and rain, with water levels fluctuating up to 1.3 meters (maximum in May/June, minimum in April). average temperature water off the coast is about +7.6°C, while the water has never warmed up above +10.8°C in the entire history of observations of this landmark of Kamchatka. However, on the shores of this reservoir there are many hot springs, up to +45°C.

In winter, there is an unparalleled concentration of large birds of prey here: 300-700 Steller's sea eagles, 100-150 white-tailed eagles, 50 golden eagles. Once on the lake they observed the arrival of a bald eagle - a rare bird whose species is on the verge of extinction. And even such an ordinary bird as the slaty gull is represented here in record numbers: more than 1.5 thousand pairs.

Kuril Lake is the largest spawning ground for sockeye salmon (Pacific salmon) in Eurasia. Many rivers and streams flow into the lake, but only one river flows out, Ozernaya. When the fish goes up against the flow of the river, the water in it literally boils. Salmon numbers range from 2 million to 6 million!

Another unique feature of Kuril Lake is the long spawning period of sockeye salmon: from June to March. Both of these factors attract many brown bears to the shores of the reservoir. Under normal conditions, clubfoots avoid each other, but during salmon spawning they gather together near the lake. Up to 20 individuals can be observed here at the same time, and they are so keen on fishing that they do not pay attention not only to their relatives, but also to people.

However, tourists are not allowed close here, and you can admire the fishing bears from the territory of the excursion camp and observation towers. Well, or with the help of our panoramas!

And the story about another amazing trip to Kamchatka will consist mainly of an emotional essay by the producer and wonderful muse of our team - Alina Trigubenko, who has already participated in Airpano projects, for example, in Hong Kong, and my comments on it.

Well, Stas and I fell in love with Kamchatka right away, even while filming the eruption of the Tolbachik volcano in December 2012. Nature, people, and even the frost - minus 25 degrees: everything around us was somehow friendly and sincere. Therefore, the thought of returning there haunted me. When, in early August, the phone rang and the woman’s voice on the phone said: “They are bothering you from the Kronotsky Nature Reserve,” it was an opportunity that could not be missed.

The “season for tourists” in Kamachatka is very short: July-August-September. The most “delicious” thing is the autumn colors at the very end. This is exactly the time we dreamed of catching. A month of negotiations, phone calls and approvals... Finally, tickets were purchased, 2 days before departure!

Alina Trigubenko: The expedition to Kamchatka began with an arrival in Elizovo, a small Far Eastern town. On the walls of some houses there is metal cladding in order to protect the buildings from the violence of the elements.

A thought immediately popped into my head; or rather, even hope - what if the weather is already preparing another surprise that will take us by surprise during filming? So powerful, so cinematic.

Surprisingly, contrary to my stereotypical expectations, it was very warm in Kamchatka in early September. Much warmer than in rainy Moscow.

Upon arrival, we, still sleepy, were immediately taken to meet the director of the reserve, Tikhon Igorevich Shpilenok; explained the tasks, signed the papers and immediately sent us on a sightseeing trip to Petropavlovsk (this is the only way to enter local time- don’t sleep until their, Kamchatsky’s, evening). And so as not to relax, we scheduled a flight for the next morning: to the bears, to Kuril Lake.

AT: Our film crew was incredibly lucky - we had the lucky opportunity to spend the night at the Grassy cordon. There, an impudent fox willingly posed for us, tempted by easy prey in the form of human food, and in the mornings he was on duty at the door of the kitchen, where I prepared food for our men. The rivers surrounding Travyanoy are literally a den of bears!
Only a small electric fence separated us from these seemingly dangerous and huge creatures. But he fulfilled his role: touching the stretched wire with his wet nose, the animal received sufficient rebuff.

Although there was a case when precautions seemed like a hindrance to a person. A few years ago, a famous Japanese photographer came to the cordon and decided not to embarrass himself and his communication with wildlife guest house on the cordon: set up a tent outside. The bear did not miss his chance, and the incident turned out to be tragic.

But in general, according to the inspector Konstantin accompanying us, it is more necessary to protect animals from people than people from animals. Of course, we went to each shoot with a full set of protective equipment, but the inspector’s main weapon was knowledge of the psychology of the bear, its habits, habits, and tastes. It turns out that if you don't provoke them, bears are not aggressive. Four bipedal bipeds with an unknown flying and filming object cannot compete for his attention with a juicy fish, for which you just have to stretch out your paw. During spawning there are millions of delicious sockeye salmon, full of caviar and the desire to die. It sounds creepy, but it’s true - sockeye salmon dies after spawning, literally providing its offspring with all the necessary microelements!

We managed to film the fishing of bears, islands, most interesting rocks Kutkhina Bati in good sunshine, but on the day of departure it started to rain. The AirPano team is lucky!

It was a pity to leave Kuril Lake: where else can you find yourself surrounded by 10 real bears, walking at a distance of several meters, who do not care about our presence? (Perhaps this is how the inspector’s gaze affected them?) This is an incomparable sensation. On the way back, the helicopter made a stop at the Khodutka hot springs, but instead of plunging into the 40-degree healing water, chose to do the shooting. If we talk about Kamchatka, then with all the details!

AT: Next stop was the Valley of Geysers. Truly amazing place- one of 5 such places on the planet and the only one on our continent. During a powerful landslide in 2007, some of the geysers were under water, but no one was injured: the mudflow stopped a meter from the house in which there were people. The panorama of the Valley clearly shows the scale of the disaster.

Fortunately, many geysers survived, and over time, the water in the lake acquired an emerald color, and it became another attraction of the Valley. The first day of shooting was amazing. By the second morning we had already gotten used to it, and we wanted to shoot a 360 video of one of the geysers - “Bolshoi” in all its glory: a column of water reaching 12 meters in height, clouds of steam...

AT: When we were trying to film an erupting geyser from above, our helicopter was hit by a powerful jet of steam, it lost control and crashed at an impressive speed into an earthen wall on the opposite bank. Our pilot Stas had to go on an expedition to rescue equipment: first become a rock climber, then dive into the muddy water of the lake, where hidden hot springs awaited him. All parts of the filming apparatus were assembled, and Stas escaped with a slight burn to his heel.

I would like to talk more about the filming, but it so happened that another natural disaster took us by surprise, and we found ourselves blocked in the Valley of Geysers with virtually no food supplies and no communication.

AT: A powerful cyclone came, which previously killed dozens of people in Japan; our wooden “guest house” was shaking from the gusts of wind. The rain did not stop for three days. By a fantastically lucky coincidence, just before the cyclone, a helicopter with a group of wealthy tourists and a large supply of food landed in the Valley. Moreover, they brought a professional chef with them! Thanks to Dmitry, who fed us homemade sweets after our film crew shared the last chocolate bar. And when, by the fourth day, their food supplies had melted, we proudly contributed with a bag of oatmeal.

On the fifth day, the cyclone disappeared, and with it, as it turned out, three meters of water in the lake! Our team, naturally, was the first to photograph this federal event and fly around the shallow lake with a video camera. We were the lucky ones who saw and, of course, filmed how several geysers, previously hidden under water, started working. How a geyser bursts into life from under layers of mud: it literally tears apart matter and sweeps away everything in the path of a powerful stream of boiling water! The spectacle is fantastic.

Yes, the sky cleared, helicopters with tourists began to arrive, Alina flew away mainland, and Stas and I headed to the Uzon caldera.

Uzon greeted us with a riot of colors: yellow birches, red blueberry and lingonberry bushes, green spruce trees, blue thermal lakes... Without exaggeration, one of the the most beautiful places on the planet, especially when viewed from the air.

It was there that the Soviet science fiction film “Sannikov Land” was filmed.

Everywhere you look, everything around is boiling, gurgling, smoking: the underground kitchen works continuously. Boiling mud volcanoes of different colors, jets of steam bursting to the surface, hot streams and lakes... This is probably what our planet was like at the beginning of its formation.

Returning from another shoot, Stas noticed a large bear picking blueberries, about thirty meters from the path. The beast didn't even bat an ear when we passed by. I rushed into the hut to get the TV. No, people did not come into his field of attention - eating berries for the hibernation season was much more important than reacting to a person with a tripod. Later, inspectors warned that such calm was deceptive. “Two jumps,” they rated my photo.

Days in the Uzon caldera flew by unnoticed. According to forecasts, another bad weather was approaching, and we could also be “stuck” for several days, like in the Valley of Geysers. We decided not to tempt fate, but to fly to Petropavlovsk on the first plane...

“Bear Region, Kuril Lake, Kamchatka” is part of a trilogy of virtual tours dedicated to photographing Kamchatka landscapes from the air. Other tours from a series of panoramas of Kamchatka: " " And " ".

The AirPano team thanks the Russian Geographical Society for financial support during the creation virtual tour, as well as the administration of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Kronotsky State Natural Biosphere Reserve” and personally the director Shpilenok Tikhon Igorevich for the ideal organization of the filming process, warmth and care for our film crew.

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Introduction

3. Water resource protection

Conclusion

Introduction

Lake Kurilskoye is a natural monument, which is located in the area of the South Kamchatka Federal Reserve, and has been included in the list of World Natural and Natural Resources since 1996. cultural heritage UNESCO.

Kuril Lake occupies a large basin with a depth of about 300 m, the height above sea level is 103 m. It is the third largest among all lakes in Kamchatka and the second among freshwater lakes, second only to Kronotsky.

The picturesqueness of the lake, above which the Ilyinsky volcano rises on one side and the Wild Ridge on the other, is enhanced by rocky capes and several islands jutting into it.

At the source of the Ozernaya River from the lake there is an observation station called TINRO, which records the salmon that come here to spawn.

Several rivers flow into the lake. The sources of one of them go to the Kambalny volcano, the river washes out and brings a lot of pieces of pumice to the lake.

Teplaya Bay is located southwest of the Ilyinsky volcano. Its shore is dotted with outlets of mineral hot waters. They warm the water in the bay itself.

Kuril Lake is a nature reserve and at the same time a natural monument of a zoological nature.

1. Physiographical sketch

Lake Kurilskoye, one of the largest lakes of the Kamchatka Peninsula, is located at an altitude of 104 m above sea level in the south of the peninsula, 60 km from Cape Lopatka, 14 km from the coast Pacific Ocean and 32 km from the coast Sea of Okhotsk. Located in the river basin. Ozernoy and gives rise to this river. The morphological and hydrological characteristics of the lake were assessed and clarified repeatedly throughout the entire period of its research (Derzhavin 1916, Krokhin, Krogius 1937, Ponomarev and others). According to the latest version (Nikolaev, Nikolaeva, 1991), the lake. Kurilskoe has the following characteristics: area - 77.05 square meters. km, volume - 15,042 cubic meters. km, maximum depth - 316.0 m, average depth - 195.2 m, catchment area - 392.0 sq. km, the period of complete water change in the catchment is 18 years, the littoral area (depth 0-5 m) is 1.0%, the average transparency in summer is 10.0 m. Powered by snow and rain.

Phytoplankton of the lake Kurilsky has been studied for many years (Vorokhnin, 1937, Nosova, 1968, Lepskaya, 1988, 2002). According to the latest published data (Lepskaya et al., 2003) on the composition of phytoplankton in the deep-water part of the lake, 59 species and intraspecific taxa have been identified.

Lake Kurilskoe is a crater. Born from a powerful volcanic explosion, filled with snow and rain water, framed by volcanoes. Once upon a time, lava flows of the Ilyinsky stratovolcano flowed directly into the lake, creating picturesque bays. Mountains approach the lake closely from almost all sides: from the west, the lava-extrusive massif Dikiy Greben, over 1000 m high, approaches the lake itself; from the north-west and north - the spurs of the Golyginskaya peak, from the north-east lava flows of the andesite-basalt volcano Ilyinskaya Sopka (1576 m) descend to the lake; from the east and southeast, the lake basin is surrounded by low-mountain relief formed by volcanic-sedimentary rocks of different ages. In the south, the mountains retreat 5-6 km. Here, directly adjacent to the lake is a plain composed of river sediments that formed the most significant tributaries of Lake Kuril: the rivers Gavryushka, Kirushutk, Khakytsin and Etamynk. From the south, this plain is limited by the spurs of the Kambalnaya and Kosheleva hills].

The lake has a round shape, slightly elongated in the meridional direction, predominantly steep banks with a number of terraces and weak ruggedness coastline. The threshold, located at a depth of 150 m, divides the lake basin into two parts - northern and southern. Northern part, called the Northern Bay, reaches a depth of 200 m. The depression in the southern part has very steep stepped slopes, quickly descending to a depth of 300 m, and a flat bottom.

25 rivers and streams flow into the lake. Only one river, Ozernaya, flows through the trench on the western side of the lake. Evaporation makes the smallest contribution to the water balance of the lake. The lake belongs to reservoirs with slow water exchange; The time for complete water exchange is, on average, 17.4 years.

In the northeastern part of Lake Kurilskoye there are three outlets of geothermal waters to the surface, located at the water's edge and confined to the foot of the Ilyinsky volcano. The water temperature in these springs reaches 35-40°C.

The waters of Lake Kurilskoe in summer are characterized by a very low content of mineral phosphorus and a high content of mineral nitrogen and silicon.

The active Ilyinsky stratovolcano adjoins the northeastern part of the lake. The youngest lava flows of this volcano descend directly into the lake.

2. Economic use

This feeding and spawning lake is the most economically important body of water on the entire Asian coast of the North Pacific. When the fish goes to spawn at the mouth of the lake river, it is caught. Types of fish living in the lake: Pink salmon, Sockeye salmon, Coho salmon, Chinook salmon, Three-spined stickleback, Nine-spined stickleback. The scarlet waters are always churning with an abundance of fish. In August-September, up to 5 million sockeye salmon come to spawn in the Kuril Lake.

Kuril Lake in Kamchatka is an exceptionally beautiful place where you can see the unique spectacle of Kamchatka bears hunting salmon going to spawn. It is here, on Lake Kuril, that the largest population of brown bears and the largest spawning ground for sockeye salmon on the peninsula are located. The abundance of sockeye salmon for such a long time is the most important feature of the natural complex of the lake. There is no more convenient model in Kamchatka for studying the ecosystems of salmon spawning grounds.

In terms of economic use, this lake is a very important object on the peninsula. The reservoir is an important base for organizing a highly productive fishery for industrial breeding and cultivation of a variety of valuable fish to supply the population in live and fresh form.

In addition to being a source of large quantities of fish, the lake is also tourist area. Although the lake is located in the State Nature Reserve, excursions and hikes are conducted there along special trails in order to affect the wildlife of this truly unique place as little as possible.

3. Water resource protection

Kuril Lake is located in the State Nature Reserve federal significance"South Kamchatsky". The South Kamchatka Nature Reserve is the only federal nature reserve in Kamchatka. It is part of Kronotsky state reserve and unites the lands in the extreme south of the peninsula, including a three-mile zone of the Pacific Ocean. The real owners of these places are birds and animals, sea and land. Speaking official language, the reserve is engaged in the conservation of natural complexes in the south of Kamchatka, including the ecosystem of the Kuril Lake basin, ensuring the protection of mass migration routes of migratory birds, and preserving populations of sea otter (sea otter), bighorn sheep and brown bear. The core of the reserve is Kuril Lake. In December 1996, the South Kamchatka Nature Reserve was included in the UNESCO List of World Natural Heritage Sites as part of the “Volcanoes of Kamchatka” nomination. The purpose of creating the reserve is to preserve and study the natural course of natural processes and phenomena, the genetic fund of flora and fauna, individual species and communities of plants and animals, typical and unique ecological systems of the southern Kuril Islands. The natural complexes of the reserve are unique and have no analogues in the world.

You can only enter the territory of the reserve if accompanied by inspectors who are responsible for the safety of visitors, and the area reserved for camping at the source of the Ozernaya River, protected from uninvited four-legged guests by a special fence.

On the banks there are also monuments of human history: sites and burial mounds of the mysterious Ainu people, also called Kurilians, discovered by archaeologists.

Kuril lake Kamchatka phytoplankton

Conclusion

The lake has no prospects for development as a fishing site yet, since it is under protection, but in the future it will develop as a cultural object and attraction of the Kamchatka Territory.

List of sources used

1. Guseva N.R. South Kamchatka State nature reserve// Kamchatka - 2002 - No. 12

2. Dobrovolsky V.V. Geology: textbook / V.V. Dobrovolsky - M.: Humanit. ed. VLADOS center, 2001. - 320 p.

3. Krasheninnikov, S.P. Description of the land of Kamchatka: 2 vols. /S. P. Krasheninnikov; Ross. Academy of Sciences, 1755

4. Yakusheva A.F., Khain V.E., Slavin V.I. General geology. M.: MSU. 1988. 591 p.

5. V.F. Bugaev, V.E. Kirichenko Feeding and spawning lakes of Asian sockeye salmon 2008. - 280 s

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This is the second largest freshwater lake on the peninsula, second only to . Its area is 77 square meters. m., average depth – 195 m., the most deep point– 316 meters.

Several rivers flow into the lake, the largest of which are Khakytsyn (24 km) and Etamynk (18 km). One river flows out of the lake, Ozernaya, which reaches the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk. The lake is framed by rocky shores covered with dense thickets. On the northeastern shore of the lake there is an active Ilyinsky volcano. The volcano has a regular cone shape, its height is 1578 m, and its diameter at the base is 8 km. It arose about 8500 years ago, last eruption was recorded in 1901. At the foot of the volcano there are thermal springs(Kuril), the temperature of which reaches 45C. The springs heat the waters of the lake, preventing it from becoming covered with strong ice in winter, despite frequent frosts of 20 degrees.
The domes of the islands formed from lava rise 200-300 m above the surface of the lake: Heart Alaid, Chayachiy, Nizkiy, and the Samang archipelago.

The lake was formed in a caldera that arose as a result of a powerful volcanic eruption which happened more than 8 thousand years ago. The eruption was truly catastrophic. Lava masses reached both shores of the peninsula, and volcanic ash covered an area thousands of kilometers away from the epicenter. And now geologists are finding layers of ash of a special yellowish color on the territory of Magadan and the Kuril Islands. For many years the land turned into a scorched, uninhabitable desert. People left it, rushing to safer places. The legend about that terrible event is still alive.

There is a legend, that once in the middle of the place where the lake is now, there was a huge mountain called Alaid. And that mountain was so big that it blocked the sun from other mountains. And the other mountains were unhappy, and they often had disputes. And Alaid got tired of living like this, and he set off on a long journey to the sea, found himself a clean place, and settled there. Alaid left behind only his heart, which can still be seen in the middle of the lake - a pinkish island Heart of Alaid shaped like a heart.

The lake is unique not so much for its volume of freshwater, but because the most significant sockeye salmon spawning area in Eurasia. The fish population is monitored by the Kamchatka Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (KamchatNIRO), one of whose stations is located along the spawning route. Records have been kept since 1940. The fishermen’s task is to release the optimal amount of fish into the lake: 1.5-2 million individuals. In fact, up to 6 million fish enter the lake, which makes spawning much more difficult. The buried and fertilized eggs of some fish are torn apart by others; due to the pressure of the fish on each other, the females become stressed and cannot lay eggs properly.

Spawning lasts quite a long time: from July to February, cases of sockeye salmon passing even in March have been recorded. Such an abundance of fish naturally attracts a large number of animals and birds. To feast on salmon, about 200 bears, 300–700 bald eagles, white-tailed eagles, and golden eagles gather near the lake. The islands are home to a large colony of slaty-backed gulls, numbering one and a half thousand pairs.

Lake Kurilskoye is open to the public tourists. In the southern part, between the Khakytsin and Etamynk rivers, there is a cordon “Cape Travyanoy” - the main base for parking. The cordon has a protective system against bears, an observation tower, helipad, motor boats, as well as all conditions for accommodation of 14 people.

Kuril Lake is considered the largest spawning ground for sockeye salmon in Eurasia. The population size of this fish can reach 6 million individuals. Spawning lasts a long time - from May to October.

Spawning is important for the ecosystem of this region and the entire peninsula. The registration of incoming fish and monitoring of offspring is carried out by the TINRO observation station. It is located on the west coast and has been operating for a long time.

As soon as the fry hatch from the eggs, they live in the lake for some time and then go into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Years later, they return to the spawning ground to hatch new offspring.

You need to know that sockeye salmon looks different in fresh water and in salt water. The color of the fish during the mating season changes to bright red instead of silver. At this time, males even grow jaws similar to a bird’s beak.

If you believe approximate calculations, then in 1 year up to 10 million fish rise to the Kuril Lake, in rare years the figure reaches 20 million. These are big numbers and represent the largest sockeye salmon migrations in all of Asia.

On this moment a large number of fishing enterprises are located along the banks of the river. Ozernoy and along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. Technology has developed so much that if you want, you can catch all the fish. Of course, in order to maintain the natural balance in the ecosystem, enterprises adhere to regulations. There are certain days when fish pass without obstacles, and there are days for fishing. This approach has allowed the sockeye salmon population to recover in recent decades.

It takes sockeye salmon about 4 days to reach their destination and lay eggs. The fish moves along the Ozernaya River unevenly and often lingers in depressions along the way. From mid-July to the first days of September there is a peak of migration.

Of course, in addition to sockeye salmon, there are other types of fish here: chum salmon, pink salmon, chinook salmon, and char.

In addition to large migrations of fish, tourists are attracted here by bears who don’t mind going “fishing”. According to rough estimates, by August about 250 brown bears come to the shore of the lake. They are under the protection of the reserve. Bears feed on fatty salmon and catch river otters and foxes. Browns simply love fishing!

Protection from the reserve workers and the abundance of food affect the behavior of brown bears. They relax more and play with each other. Therefore, photographers from all over the world often come here to take pictures. beautiful photos dancing and kind bears. Such photographs participate in competitions and win prizes.

It’s also impossible to live without birds on Kuril Lake. The largest colony of slaty gulls lives here. In total more than 1500 pairs. In winter, large predators also come here to hunt: golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, and Steller's sea eagles. Their greatest concentration is observed in the area between the Etamanka and Khakytsyn rivers, on the Ozernaya River.

About 2,000 wild ducks and hundreds of whooper swans spend almost the entire winter on the water. The diet of birds necessarily includes sockeye salmon and its caviar. There are no vegetarians here.

Kuril Lake is visited by birds from the passerine family, mainly during autumn migrations. This is explained by the fact that Kuril Lake is the optimal place to relax before leaving the Kamchatka Peninsula. There's just no more southern places With good conditions for parking.

In the basin of one of the long-extinct Kamchatka volcanoes lies the picturesque Kuril Lake. This is the second largest freshwater body of water in Kamchatka: 77 km². Its average depth is estimated at 195 m, and the maximum reaches 316 m. Kuril Lake is located on the territory of the South Kamchatka Nature Reserve, which is included in the list World Heritage UNESCO, at an altitude of 104 m above sea level. Its surface is decorated with islands of volcanic origin: Chayachy, Nizkiy, Heart of Alaid and the Samang archipelago, made of lava domes up to 300 m high.

Adjacent to the northeastern part of the reservoir is the active 1578-meter Ilyinsky volcano with an ideal conical shape. Its lava flows descend directly into the lake, forming several bays. And the western shore is framed by the Dikiy Greben ridge with a highest elevation of 1080 m. In calm, clear weather, volcanoes, as if in a mirror, are reflected on the surface of the lake, creating fantastically beautiful landscapes.

In winter, an unparalleled concentration of large birds of prey gathers here: 300-700 Steller's sea eagles, 100-150 white-tailed eagles, 50 golden eagles. Once on the lake they observed the arrival of a bald eagle - a rare bird whose species is on the verge of extinction. And even such an ordinary bird as the slaty gull is represented here in record numbers: more than 1,500 pairs.

Nevertheless, tourists are not allowed close here, and you can admire the fishing bears from the territory of the excursion camp and observation towers. Well, or using the AirPano panorama!

The season for tourists in Kamachatka is very short: July-August-September. The most “delicious” thing is the autumn colors at the very end. This is exactly the time we dreamed of catching. A month of negotiations, phone calls and approvals... Finally, tickets were purchased, two days before departure!

The expedition to Kamchatka began with an arrival in Elizovo, a small Far Eastern town. The walls of some houses have metal cladding to protect the buildings from the violence of the elements.

A thought immediately popped into my head, or rather, even a hope: what if the weather was already preparing another surprise that would take us by surprise during filming? So powerful, so cinematic.

Upon arrival, we, still sleepy, were immediately taken to meet the director of the reserve, Tikhon Igorevich Shpilenok, the tasks were explained, the papers were signed, and we were immediately sent on a sightseeing trip to Petropavlovsk (this is the only way to enter local time - not to sleep until their Kamchatka evening). And so as not to relax, we scheduled a flight for the next morning: to the bears, to Kuril Lake.

Our film crew was incredibly lucky - we had the lucky opportunity to spend the night at the Grassy cordon. There, an impudent fox willingly posed for us, tempted by easy prey in the form of human food, and in the mornings he was on duty at the door of the kitchen, where I prepared food for our men.

The rivers surrounding Travyanoy are literally a den of bears! Only a small electric fence separated us from these seemingly dangerous and huge creatures. But he fulfilled his role: touching the stretched wire with his wet nose, the animal received sufficient rebuff.

Although there was a case when precautions seemed like a hindrance to a person. A few years ago, a famous Japanese photographer came to the cordon and decided not to embarrass himself and his communication with wildlife with a guest house at the cordon: he set up a tent outside. The bear did not miss his chance, and the incident turned out to be tragic.

But in general, according to the inspector Konstantin accompanying us, it is more necessary to protect animals from people than people from animals. Of course, we went to each shoot with a full set of protective equipment, but the inspector’s main weapon was knowledge of the psychology of the bear, its habits, habits, and tastes. It turns out that if you don't provoke them, bears are not aggressive. Four bipedal bipeds with an unknown flying and filming object cannot compete for his attention with a juicy fish, for which you just have to stretch out your paw. During spawning, there are millions of delicious sockeye salmon, full of caviar and the desire to die. It sounds creepy, but it’s true - sockeye salmon dies after spawning, literally providing its offspring with all the necessary microelements! Don't believe me? See for yourself with AirPano panoramas.