Lake Vygozero
Let’s talk a bit about where this story takes place. In the northwestern sector of Russia, there is a freshwater lake called Lake Vygozero. The lake is so cold that it has a temperature that can sometimes go all the way down to -20 Celsius, which is about -4 Fahrenheit.
It goes without saying that these temperatures are way too cold for any human to go swimming, so keep that fact in mind as we delve into this riveting tale. The lake is also extremely large, and is not only a huge danger for fishermen, but also for wildlife animals such as bears – and very soon, you’ll see proof of this fact.
Living on the edge
Can’t keep up
So without further ado, the mother bear jumped into the lake with her two cubs, figuring that they’d be able to tag along with her. But as they started their trip across the lake, it became painfully clear right off the bat that the little cubs weren’t able to keep up with their mother.
She realized that her little babies weren’t strong enough to make it, and in the meantime, they were holding on to her for dear life.
Let it loose
Powerful current
But before you jump to any crazy conclusions, it may behove you to consider that this mother bear really did try to hold on to her babies. The only reason that she got split up with them was because the current of the lake was incredibly strong, and it essentially tore her apart from her cubs against her will.
Once they were apart, the mother bear felt she had no choice but to move on and pray that they would survive. So she kept swimming, and eventually found land.
I need a miracle
Hanging by a thread
Try to imagine what the cubs must have been going through at this time. What goes on in a bear’s mind when their life is hanging by a thread? Sure, they may not think the way humans do, but their feelings are very real, and they were probably supremely afraid.
They were treading water like their lives depended on it, even though they had never done it before. But even though hope seemed dire, very soon the changing tides would shift to their benefit.
Help on the way
Exhausted cubs
It turns out that the people on the boat were fishermen, and although they had obviously set out to catch some fish, a new scenario was unfolding before their very eyes. The closer they got towards the cubs, they realized quite how disastrous things were.
Not only were these cubs struggling to keep their heads above water, they were very noticeably exhausted. The fishermen had not planned on encountering something like this, but they realized they couldn’t just do nothing about it.
Safe distance
No time to think
While the fishermen were waiting for the mother bear to distance herself a little bit more from where their boat was located, they began to concoct a logical plan for how exactly to save the bear cubs. In addition, many questions arose in their minds: Even if they managed to save the cubs, what were they going to do with them once they came on board?
There were simply so many unanswered questions, but unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to think about it too much.
Film it all
An interesting plan
The little bear cub tried to grab hold, but unfortunately it was way too high for him. In addition he was still extremely weak from all of that wading around and attempting to stay above water.
But one of the fishermen had a plan – he grabbed all of the fishing gear he could find on the boat, and thought that perhaps he could help the bear grab hold of one of the tools. But they were still too far away from the bear.
A toothy plan
Still too far
Even though the cub had managed to grab hold of the boat with his teeth, they were still far away from the landing on the boat. They still needed help from the fishermen, who would later report that at the time they realized that they simply couldn’t “look the other way.” Their hearts were burning at the prospect of the potential of these young cubs drowning, and they wanted to do all they could to help.
But they also realized the imminent danger they were in.
Trust is needed
Unspoken plea
At that point, something happened that seemed to be a turning point with the fishermen and the bears. One of the fishermen and the cub that had locked his teeth onto the boat looked directly at each other – almost like they were looking into each others’ souls.
As their two pairs of eyes locked, they understood that they could trust each other. It was almost as if the little cub was pleading, “Please… Please help us, we just want to survive this.”
An even better plan
Clocks a-ticking
Now, using the fisherman’s net seemed like a solid option, but there were a couple of pitfalls to this approach. One of them was that this net was of course designed for fish, and not exactly built to support the weight of a full grown bear cub, let alone two of them! But they figured they would still give it a legitimate shot.
So they tossed the net into the ocean, and began to attempt to reel the cub in. But they were very quickly running out of time.
First cub
Soothing voices
Because as helpless as the bear cubs were in this scenario, bears are nevertheless one of the most dangerous animals on the planet. There is no telling what they might they do in any scenario, even to those who are actually their saviors.
For this reason, the fishermen attempted to calm the bears down as they were reeling them in. This way, the bears wouldn’t consider them to be scary poachers, rather nice men only looking to help.
Extremely heavy
Just one more pull
Just when the whole endeavor seemed hopeless, the fishermen dug deep into their hearts, and pulled as hard as they could. Slowly but surely, they started making some real progress, and the first bear cub got closer and closer to the boat’s platform. There was obvious excitement on both ends of the spectrum, and probably a lot of nerves as well.
It was happening – the bear cub was almost there. They just needed to give it one more big pull and it would be over.
Getting on board
Bear cub number two
But even though the other bear cub’s situation wasn’t looking too great, the fishermen were confident that they could rescue him too. So they made their way a little bit closer to him, cast their net out into the lake, and tried to get hold of him.
The whole process was definitely smoother the second time around, because they already knew what needed to be done. They wrapped the net around the second bear and began to hoist him too.
Brothers on board
Truly a miracle
If you read it out of context that two bears were now roaming freely on a boat of a group of fishermen, you might be a little bit scared for their lives. But of course, within the framework of this story, this was actually a cause for celebration.
When you consider the fact that these cubs were about an inch away from their sad demise, it truly is nothing short of a miracle that they were ultimately saved.
Cold and shaking
Fishermen resolution
When the fishermen saw how cold and afraid the cubs were, they were immediately heartbroken. They had fallen for the young cubs, and they wanted to do all they could to help them.
That being said, they knew that they couldn’t keep them – they needed to return them to their natural way of life, which was on dry land. And considering they knew that their mother wasn’t too far away, they figured they might as well try to reunite them again.
Looking for the spot
Edge of their seats
Every still person on that boat was on the edge of their seats when they glided up to the island – even the bear cubs. The mother bear was nowhere to be seen, and they truly had no idea what was about to occur.
Remember, for the fishermen on board, there was also the fear that if the mother bear did show up, there was always the chance she would try to attack them. But this is what bravery is all about – they were doing the right thing.
Rendezvous point
Final goodbye
Once they had finally said goodbye, they knew they were not only safe, but heroes that had lived to tell their story. And what was even more beautiful about the whole thing was that they had caught the entire thing on camera!
Now, people didn’t only need to take them for their word – they could watch it with their own eyes. But even though the fishermen were happy with what they’d done, they knew that they had made bonds with those young bear cubs that would last them forever.