A Heartbreaking Story
This story is one that will surely tug at your heartstrings and will take you through a rollercoaster of emotions. Are you ready?
A Heartbreaking Story
Lake Vygozero
This story takes place around freshwater Lake Vygozero, located in northwestern Russia. It gets so cold that at certain times, the lake’s temperatures reach -20 degrees Celsius, which comes out to -4 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes the area somewhat dangerous for fisherman as well as the wildlife that inhabits the area.
Lake Vygozero
Right On The Edge
Living outdoors in the wild is not a simple thing, whether you are a human or an animal. The bears featured in this story certainly found themselves in a difficult situation while trying to cross the lake. The mother bear brought her cubs to the edge of the lake in order to try to cross it, which they all found much harder than they expected.
Right On The Edge
They Couldn’t Keep Up
The mother bear and her cubs headed into the water, the mother thinking her cubs could keep up with her. As they began to journey across the lake, the bear cubs started to fall behind. The mother realized her cubs were not going to be able to make it across, and they began to hold on to her instead.
They Couldn’t Keep Up
She Kept Going
Sometimes in nature, survival of the fittest takes over, which may seem against our values as humans. However, animals do not share our moral compass. Once the mother bear realized that the cubs were not able to make it on her own, she let them go and continued to swim on her own. While this is the way of nature, it seems heartbreaking to us humans.
She Kept Going
The Strong Current
However, the mother bear did not simply let go of her babies. She tried to hold on to them until the trio was hit with a powerful current, which ended up tearing them apart. Once they had been separated, the mother bear continued on and was able to eventually find her way back to land.
The Strong Current
Needed A Miracle
Meanwhile, the bear cubs who had tried so desperately to hang on to their mother, suddenly found themselves alone in the cold water. The poor bears did not know how to swim on their own, and they were running out of energy quickly trying to survive in the water by themselves.
Needed A Miracle
Barely Hanging On
At this point, the bears were only hanging on by a thread. While their thoughts are quite different from humans’ thoughts, we’re sure they were feeling scared. The poor bears had to tread water in order to save their young lives. However, soon the tides would change in their favor.
Barely Hanging On
Help Was On The Way
Just as the bears were reaching the point of no return, a ship suddenly showed up out of nowhere. The people aboard the ship could immediately see that something was wrong. They saw the bears struggling and decided they simply had to do something about it.
Help Was On The Way
The Tired Cubs
The people aboard the ship happened to be fishermen. They set sail in order to catch some fish that morning, and certainly didn’t expect the scene they stumbled upon instead. They very quickly noticed that the bears were growing tired while struggling to stay afloat.
The Tired Cubs
Keeping A Distance
While the fishermen wanted to help out the bear cubs immediately, they noticed the mother bear was still in the area. While she did leave the cubs behind, that doesn’t mean that her motherly instincts wouldn’t kick in the moment the fishermen got close to the cubs. Therefore, they decided to wait until they were a safe distance away from her before attempting to rescue the cubs.
Keeping A Distance
No Time For Questions
While they waited to gain some distance from the mother bear, the fishermen decided to come up with a plan for saving the baby bears. Then the questions began: once they’ve saved the bears, what would they do with them on the ship? Unfortunately, they were running out of time and couldn’t think about the answer before taking action.
No Time For Questions
Got It On Film
One of the fishermen decided to document the whole saga, and ran to grab his smartphone in order to be able to take a video of the event. However, soon enough one of the bear cubs got close enough in order to try to climb aboard, attempting to do so by latching onto the boat with his paw.
Got It On Film
The Plan
Try as he might, the poor little bear cub simply could not do it on his own. The ledge was too high, and he was already so tired from struggling in the water before. However, one of the men had an idea. He grabbed all of the tools they had on the boat and tried to reach out to the bear with the tools. However, the bear was still a bit too far out.
The Plan
Chomping Down
The fishermen weren’t the only ones with a plan in store, however. The little bear decided to use one of his best assets, his sharp teeth, in order to try to save himself. He started to latch onto the side of the boat in order get gain better traction. While this plan seems crazy, it worked for a little bit!
Chomping Down
Still In Danger
While the bear was able to hang onto the boat using his teeth, this still was not enough, as he was still not close to the landing of the boat. The fishermen really felt for the bears cubs and shared they couldn’t “look the other way.” They really felt for the cubs and wanted to help. They also soon realized just how much danger the cubs were still in.
Still In Danger
Needed Trust
While they were too far away to grab onto the cubs, they also were worried about grabbing the bears and slipping, falling into the water into harm’s way as well. However, there was only one way that this crazy plan was going to work for both sides: mutual trust.
Needed Trust
The Plea For Help
Then suddenly, something quite incredible happened which became a turning point in this wild story. The bear that had latched onto the boat with his teeth made direct eye contact with one of the fishermen. It was almost as if they were staring into one another’s souls. In this moment, it was clear that the bear was pleading for help and that there was trust between them and they could move forward with the plan .
The Plea For Help
A New Plan
The fishermen had officially made the decision that they wanted to help the bears. They knew they need to have a calculated plan in order to ensure their safety as well as the bears’ safety. They decided not to veer too far off from what they knew best, and decided to use their fishermen’s net.
A New Plan
The Ticking Clock
While this plan seemed like a solid one, it was not without flaws. While the net was a good idea, it just wasn’t built to hold the weight of a bear cub, and especially not two! However, the fishermen decided to go for it anyways. They threw the net into the water and tried to reel the cubs in. However, time was running out.
The Ticking Clock
The First One
It was quite difficult to hoist the first bear cub onto the boat as it was much heavier than the fish the fishermen were used to reeling into the boat. The only problem was that the bears had never been caught in nets before. While the fishermen were saving them, there was still no way to know what the bears would do once they reached the boat. What if they thought the fishermen meant to hurt them?
The First One
Calm Tones
While the fishermen were saving the bears lives, they knew that they still had to act with caution. Bears are still some of the most powerful and potentially dangerous animals, so the fishermen tried to use soothing and calm tones of voice in order to help keep them calm.
Calm Tones
Pretty Heavy
As the fishermen pulled the bear up, they felt just how heavy they are. While this was expected, it was still pretty shocking! Fully grown bears can weight up to 1300 pounds! Even though they were cubs, they were still heavy and since they were wet, they became even harder to grip onto. The fishermen were concerned that they would be too heavy to pull up, but they still did not give up.
Pretty Heavy
One More Pull
Just when the fishermen thought that they weren’t strong enough, they didn’t give up and kept pulling the bear. They made slow and steady progress, which encouraged them to keep going. Before long, the bear was much close to the boat’s platform. As they pulled him closer, their nerves began to get to them. Just one more pull, and that would be it!
One More Pull
Getting On The Boat
After one last tug, they finally did it! They managed to pull the bear aboard. Now that they had successfully saved one bear, they moved on to the second bear with much more confidence. However, the second cub was farther away, and he must have grown even more tired after all the extra time left in the water.
Getting On The Boat
The Second Bear
Despite the difficulties facing them and the second cub, they began the second part of their mission. They inched closer to the second bear and cast their net once again. Since they had done it once before, the process went much more smoothly this time around. The cast the net around the cub and began to pull him in.
The Second Bear
A Miracle
Once the second bear was pulled safely aboard the boat, what they just accomplished began to finally set in. They just saved the two baby bears! Considering these cubs were moments away from drowning, this was just short of a miracle. They’re truly lucky the fishermen were nearby.
A Miracle
Shivering With Cold
While the bears were no longer in danger of drowning, they were still not completely safe. The fishermen noticed that the poor cubs were shaking and were clearly terrified. Not only were they freezing cold from the water, they were facing creatures that they were not used to coming in contact with, humans.
Shivering With Cold
The Fishermen’s Plan
The fishermen knew what they had to do next. While they grew fond of the baby bears, they knew that they had to return them to their natural habitat. Thus, they began to made their way towards the land and to hopefully find the bear cubs’ mother that got away.
The Fishermen’s Plan
Finding A Spot
The fishermen began to make their way towards the island where the bears had initially come from with their mother. Even though she had essentially abandoned them, she was still their mother. After some time searching, the fishermen finally found the island. But would the mother bear be there? Would they be able to find her?
Finding A Spot
Unsure Of What’s Next
The fishermen and the bear cubs were on the edge of their seats as they sailed towards the bears’ native island. They couldn’t see the mother bear anywhere, and it was unclear if they’d be able to find her. They also worried about their own safety if the mother bear thought they were threatening the bear cubs. However, they knew finding her was the right thing to do.
Unsure Of What’s Next
The Meeting Point
They decided to wait it out, but after some time, they still did not see the mother bear. The fishermen didn’t give up, knowing that she must be there, around somewhere. They decided the right thing to do was to release the cubs back into the wild. They carried the still-weak cubs onto the land, so it would be easy for the mother to find them.
The Meeting Point
The Last Goodbye
The fishermen bid the bear cubs goodbye, confident that their mother would find them soon. What was truly incredible is that they were able to capture the whole story on video! The fishermen’s bravery is truly commendable, and the bears were really quite lucky that these men found them in their time of need.
The Last Goodbye
Leaving Unscathed
The fishermen exemplified bravery while potentially sacrificing their safety in order to save the bear cubs. The fact that they left the situation completely unscathed is quite lucky. Thanks to these brave men, the baby bears were able to keep living and were most likely returned to their mother. What a happy ending for all!
Leaving Unscathed