Bear Spotting on Foot

Kamchatka’s wilderness is perfect to observe the Kamchatkan brown bear up close and personal during the annual salmon run every summer. Though I could travel to some destinations in north America to observe the grizzlies which are very similar to these brown bears,I was lured into this,since it’s hardly done by a few hundred people and is a destination where I could meet the brown bear on foot which is not possible in other wildlife parks around the world. The prospect of being one of the first Indians to photograph the brown bear made it an exciting endeavour.

A non-stop,10-hour flight — on probably one of the world’s longest domestic flights from the capital,Moscow,to a small town called Petropavlovsk — brought me to this paradise full of mind-boggling glaciers,rivers,springs,lakes,magnificent valleys and snow-capped mountains overlooking Alpine meadows. The picturesque coasts,the lively sea and the gulfs engage in an interplay of serenity,overlooking ledges where eagles dare. Dolphins and whales thrive in the waters that seem to have no horizon.

After the long flight,day one was spent gathering supplies and last-minute shopping for the expedition where flowing water was supposed to be a luxury. A MI-6 helicopter picked me up and I was on my way to the Kurilskoye lake,a huge lake at the bottom of the peninsula engulfed by dense woods and the tundra.

The center of attraction here is the salmon,a common name for a species of fish known for their migratory instincts. Born in freshwater lakes and pools,the salmon travel to the oceans and return to their exact place of birth in order to reproduce or spawn. Every year,millions of salmon migrate to lakes navigating upstream through rivers.

Kamchatka is known to be the origin of nearly a quarter of the world’s Pacific salmon population. The Kurilskoye lake is supposed to be one of the largest spawning grounds for the salmon,and the brown bears around here seem to know it very well.

Even before my helicopter landed here on a small strip of land right next to the lake,I noticed a bear playing fisherman at a distance. It was a thrilling aerial view of the bear dashing towards the pink salmon,which was clearly visible from a distance.

Walking every day along with an armed ranger,I could get as close as 20 metres to a brown bear. Fierce carnivores,the bears would hardly notice us as they busily fished for salmon in the shallows of the Kurilskoye lake. A watch tower built by the wildlife department,very close to the mouth of a river which funnels into the Kurilskoye lake,was a perfect spot to spend time and observe these bears. Mothers with cubs,gigantic males,young adults and subadult bears would visit this spot to fish for a nutritious meal.

While bears are territorial,some of them tolerate each other’s presence around the lake for a few days knowing the fishing frenzy would come to an end very soon. In a matter of days,the salmon return to the Pacific Ocean and the bears retreat to the woods. They hibernate during the winter and emerge from their dens and burrows around April.

Nearly two dozen active volcanoes make Kamchatka a popular adventure destination during summers and for ski-loving tourists,this is a fascinating place to visit in the winters.

The visit to Kamchatka has been a dream,I hope to relive again. While the luxuries and facilities are far from good in this remote corner of the world,the opportunities to spot a brown bear on foot is an experience that is second to none. I reckon,however hard I try to narrate my story of Kamchatka,I can barely do justice to it.

(The author is a Bangalore-based wildlife photographer,teacher,writer and co-founder of Toehold,a travel and photography company.)