On a nice calm day, with no wind or waves, we cruised from Aidomari around Cape Shiretoko in search of brown bears just before Rusha river in Shari town.
Now we are starting to see Cape Shiretoko! While on the cruise, depending on the location, the weather and conditions can change suddenly with wind and waves. On this day, Shiretoko was “stable”, but there was some waves along the way, since we were on an extended cruise.
This is the Shiretoko Misaki lighthouse. After passing that point, we entered the Sea of Okhotsk where usually there is a significant difference in the sea conditions between the Rausu and Shari sides, which are separated by the Shiretoko mountain range. However, it was a calm and sunny day on both sides.
The Cape Shiretoko has a plateau at 30-40m high, but the vegetation there was cut in the pioneering days, has never returned. There is also a factor that the Ezo-sika deer population has increased too much and is ruining the vegetation. The area from the central part to the northern part of Shiretoko Peninsula became a national park in 1964 and was later designated as World Heritage Site in 2005. Currently power boats are not allowed on land, but you can observe the landscape and wildlife from boats along the coast.
Same as on the Rausu side, there are abandoned fishing houses “banya” along the coast on the Shari side as well. The terrain on the Shari side makes it much more challenging for humans to reach.
Found them…the Brown bear mother and her cub.
The cute scene of a baby bear trying to keep up with the mother bear.
This little cub is just as curious about us. Since we perhaps were catching their attention too much, so we moved away from the coast and made our way towards the mountains.
Another pair of bears. This mother had walking with her a very young cub.
The mother bear makes her way up the slope while eating grass. And two little cubs trying to keep up.
Looks like they are a bit worried about the boat, and I apologized to them for interrupting them.
Photo & text: Mariko SAWADA
Observation: Aug 2020, Shiretoko Peninsula
Special Thanks : Mr.Koichi TENJIN, Mr.Shohei MORITA (Shiretoko Serai知床サライ)
*Contact us, Saiyu Travel for more information about wildlife and bird watching in Hokkaido. We can make various arrangements for your trip. We have a guesthouse, Shiretoko Serai, in Rausu, Shiretoko Peninsula.
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