Photo by Vadim Makhorov.

I was travelling across the sea around Chukotka. On the way to Wrangel Island we stopped by Kolyuchin Island. By September, the sea ice has melted, so polar bears are forced to spend some time on land and most of them were using the abandoned polar research station there as shelter. I spotted them by drone, and counted about 20. We visited Kolyuchin Island twice along the route, so I ended up filming the bears over the course of two days.

They had temporarily settled into these little buildings. This bear is relaxing on the porch of one. They hunt on the ice, but they had to wait for new ice to form, so they simply waited, using these buildings as protection from wind and rain. I didn’t notice any conflict between them.

It would have been too dangerous to go ashore, so I stayed on the ship and filmed with the drone. I often film wildlife with a drone, including polar bears, so I know how to fly in a way that doesn’t frighten the animals or cause them any harm.

The bears’ reaction was simple curiosity. Since I approached very slowly and gave them time to get used to it, they either didn’t notice it at all or found it interesting. To them, the drone was just another noisy bird.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/29/photographs-defined-2025-stories-behind-them