Photographer Brings Drone on Cruise Ship, Finds Polar Bears Living in Abandoned Building

Oct 01, 2025

Matt Growcoot

A photographer who brought his drone along on a cruise trip discovered a group of polar bears living in an abandoned Soviet polar research station.

Vadim Makhorov has taken several expeditions to the North Pole and is currently there right now. While on his latest trip, he flew his drone out to Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea and piloted it close to the polar bears. Some of them showed interest in the flying camera, with one even snapping at it, but most of them were indifferent.

Makhorov is traveling on the Spirit of Enderby (Professor Khromov) ship and says that near the polar bear residence is a huddle of walruses. He calls it an “interesting neighborhood.”

“Polar bears live here on an abandoned weather station,” Makhorov writes on Instagram. “Nearby is a nest of walruses and also whales swimming. Bears enjoy comfort and coziness; they treat the buildings as shelter, safe from wind and rain. And in sunny weather, you can lie on your belly in the yard.”

A polar bear stands in the doorway of an old, weathered building with peeling paint and a rusty roof near the coast, under a blue sky. Dry grass and wooden debris are scattered in the foreground. — Vadim Makhorov.

A polar bear sits on brown grass near an abandoned, weathered building while another polar bear walks in the background under a blue sky. — Vadim Makhorov.

A group of polar bears rests on the steps and inside the doorway of a weathered, yellow building. One bear lies across the steps while three others stand behind in the doorway, all appearing calm. — Vadim Makhorov.

Makhorov says that the bears aren’t afraid of the drone and are more frightened by other human activity, like the noise and smell of boats, or voices of people.

“I try hard not to annoy animals. If I see that a bear is afraid of a drone, I don’t chase it, I take the drone away,” he says on Instagram. “But this rarely happens, because I fly to the animals very slowly, allowing them to get used to an unusual guest.”

The Russian photographer also expressed frustration at people falsely calling his images AI-generated. “It hurts me deep down,” Makhorov says. He calls the allegations a “devaluation” of his work, adding that he has spent years honing his photography skills and ventured into the unwelcoming Arctic to get these shots.

A polar bear rests on the wooden steps of a weathered, abandoned house near the sea, surrounded by dry grass and debris under a cloudy sky. — VVadim Makhorov.

A polar bear lies sprawled on the front steps of a weathered, abandoned building, chewing on a wooden beam. The sky is overcast, and the ground is covered in dry, yellow grass. — Vadim Makhorov.

A polar bear stands inside a decaying, weathered wooden house, looking out of a window. In the background, another dilapidated building is visible on a barren, brown landscape under a cloudy sky. — Vadim Makhorov.

Makhorov adds that although the bears may look “cute and friendly”, he warns they are “extremely dangerous predators.” After all, polar bears won’t only try to gain access to abandoned buildings; they also have a habit of trying to break into human-occupied polar bases, and researchers have to put bars and spikes on the windows to prevent them from getting in.

The bears on Kolyuchin Island have been photographed before: Dmitry Kokh shared photos of the bears in 2022 which won Nature Photographer of the Year 2022.

Update 10/02: Updated with Makhorov’s photos.