Image details

Tundra and estuary, Onekotan Island, Kuril Islands, Russia. Makanrushi Island, which is northwest of Onekotan Island, can be seen in the distance. A volcanically and seismically active island, Onekotan is located in the northern portion of the Kuril Island chain. It was sparsely inhabited by the indigenous Ainu people through at least the end of the 19th century. Remains of a very small Ainu village -- several raised circular formations in the ground, covered with a carpet of vegetation -- are situated in the estuary next to a curve in the river, near the center of the photograph. Onekotan was occupied by Japanese soldiers during WWII, and remnants of some bunkers remain on the island.