The tragedy in Kamchatka: «The soul hurts even those who were not there»

It is not necessary to be an expert to understand that such incidents disrupt the normal functioning of biological systems, which ultimately affects humanity. After all, we, and any cataclysm reminds us of this, are not “kings of nature”, but one of the links in the biological chain. And our activities often have a devastating effect on the planet.

“Virgin nature even there, 9000 km from Moscow, is no longer there ?!!”

Journalist and blogger Irina Polezhaeva, together with her husband, makes author’s tours around the world, including Kamchatka. She writes on her Instagram page: (an extremist organization banned in Russia) “Each time we meet a new group, we go to Khalaktyrsky beach on the same day. And the husband traditionally, shocking everyone, jumps into the Pacific Ocean. And this year I even changed into a swimsuit, but I didn’t dare. I decided that I would take a bath later. But «later» may not be, guys.

… Surfers were the first to sound the alarm. Like, the ocean has changed its smell and color, and even the taste of water has become bitter. People’s eyes hurt, suffocation began. And at first it was even written off as a strange allergic reaction. I contacted my friends from Kamchatka and received monstrous videos: the shore is covered with the corpses of marine animals … and there are many such videos! The first tests showed that the content of oil products and phenol was exceeded several times!”

Today the beach has been cleaned, it looks clean as usual. And we have yet to find out exactly what happened, who is to blame and what the possible consequences are. Irina writes about how this incident aroused her feelings: “The charm of Kamchatka has always been in its wild, unbridled nature, primordial beauty. The one that cannot be trimmed, made “correct” and civilized. This attracted travelers.

We are used to the fact that in large cities there have long been problems with the environment. And the understanding causes panic that this virgin nature even there, 9000 km from Moscow, is no longer there. It turns out that no matter how much you sort your garbage or refuse plastic, is it all a drop in the ocean? For many, this realization is painful.”

“This place is so magnetic. Save Kamchatka!”

Photographer Evgenia Voevodina talks about her impressions of a trip to Kamchatka: “… We bought caviar in the market of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsk, fresh bread, butter. We got into a rattling minibus and went to the ends of the world. Then, 15 years ago, only a few people traveled to Kamchatka, they didn’t hear about any surfers there, it was deserted around the Khalaktyrsky beach, and it was necessary to walk two kilometers from the minibus stop to the coast. First, along the primer, with natural photo wallpapers around (mountains, meadows, the sun), then along a small forest belt, among berry and cedar forests …

Amazing sensations — all the way you hear the most powerful rumble of the ocean, which you will not confuse with anything. This primitiveness made its way. We walked along the beach for a long time, my friend Andrey plunged into the Pacific (12-13 degrees water), ate our Kamchatka sandwiches. We had just arrived on the peninsula, we had two weeks of adventures with volcanoes, bears and rafting ahead of us. But at the end of the journey, on the last free day, guess what our group decided to do? Back to Khalaktyrsky beach… Such a place is magnetic. Save Kamchatka!”

“Man is indeed very small, but also very destructive and dangerous.”

Maria Khmelevskaya, philologist and tourist

Violence against nature is generally a sore subject for me, just like lonely old people and abandoned children. Do not litter where you sleep, honor history, draw and pass on wisdom and protect the defenseless… I believe that these simple values ​​are the basis of civilizational and humanistic development. How do I feel when reading news from Kamchatka? Like the heroine of Mila Jovovich after watching a brief history of mankind. Like Princess Mononoke mourning her ruined forest. Like tailed avatars staring fearfully at advancing enemy ships stuffed with death. I cry from despair and helplessness!

A month and a half ago, I stood on the Khalaktyrsky beach in front of furious storm waves, experiencing the original awe of the Universe. How small I am in the face of the mighty ocean, unrestrained, alive and perfect in its storm! No more than one of those grains of sand that hurt the face, dispersed by the wind.

Man is indeed small, but at the same time destructive and dangerous. Again we broke something. Again, our man-made footprint turned out to be toxic. This is painful and bitter… For me, Kamchatka is a reserve of pristine nature. Here, as nowhere else, her strength is visible. When I traveled around this region, it was its severity that struck me most of all. The local nature teaches to submit, but not to conquer, respect and listen. Here you feel like a small and funny presumptuous little man in the face of an impartial ecosystem. How fragile she is and how careful every second of her life must be!

“Many are experiencing hopelessness and impotence”

Olga Agafonova, family and perinatal psychologist, neuropsychologist, psychodrama therapist

I watch the news about Kamchatka, and I feel pain and fear. Many, like me, are experiencing hopelessness and impotence today. What can we do while sitting at home? Send shocking photos? But they do not help everyone to pay attention to environmental problems — on the contrary, they can repel, injure the psyche. I am a psychologist, but it’s hard for me to look at such photos …

Why do some people prefer to think that since Kamchatka is far away, what happened will not affect them? Because they feel powerless. Empathy and pain are so strong, unbearable, that a paradoxical defensive reaction of the psyche turns on: “This is far away, not about me.”

The pandemic has shown that the world is really small. One event can affect all countries. We realized that viruses are transmitted across borders, and China is not as far away as it seems. A similar situation is now with Kamchatka. Therefore, probably, the soul hurts even those who were not there.

People who have realized that they are part of the living world of the planet feel: if nature hurts there, in Kamchatka, then it hurts them too, here. It’s like hitting a corner with your little toe: the pain will be given throughout the body, although the vital organs are not affected.

One way or another, what happened affects everyone. From Kamchatka, for example, they bring us fish, caviar, and seafood. Toxic substances, therefore, can also enter our body! Infantile people who childishly want to hide their faces in their hands refuse to believe in this, because it’s scary. But there are those who don’t really care. For them, their own financial, career, personal interests always come first.

What should we, those who care about what happens to nature, do? I think it’s time for all of us to ask ourselves questions: what are we doing? How do we relate to nature, to the world, to ourselves? Let’s not forget that we can do a lot. We can start with ourselves: be more environmentally friendly. For example, sorting garbage or using less plastic in everyday life.