Kamchatka on the map of Russia is located in the north-eastern part of the country. From the east it is washed by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, from the west by the Sea of Okhotsk. The nature of Kamchatka is amazing and beautiful. Tourists love to visit these places.
But there are also quite dangerous territories on the peninsula. This is the Valley of Death, where birds, animals and people die in almost minutes. Survive in it, surprisingly, only microorganisms. Scientists have been studying this phenomenon for a long time, but have not yet found an explanation for it.
History of Death Valley
The history of the Valley of Death begins a long time ago. It was created not by man, but by nature. Some call it the Land of Paradoxes. It is located next to the Valley of Geysers, a favorite place for tourists.
No one knew about the existence of the Valley of Death for a long time. Although once a research expedition, heading to the Uzon volcano, settled down to rest almost 300 meters from it. But she never paid attention to Death Valley.
Location of Death Valley
Death Valley is located in the Kronotsky Reserve, which has an active volcano Kikhpinych. According to himthe Geysernaya river flows on the western slope. Death Valley is on the other side of the volcano. It occupies a small area - only 500 m wide and 2 km long.
Interesting places in Kamchatka
Kamchatka on the map is located in the northeast of Eurasia. The peninsula has its own unique attractions. For example, the Valley of Geysers. The nature of Kamchatka impresses with its majestic beauty.
One of her unique places is Death Valley. This is a very picturesque place. There are a number of natural terraces on the western slope of the volcano. Steam from nearby hot springs constantly rises above them.
The valley is deadly for all living things. As soon as the sun begins to warm, small animals descend into the valley. But they quickly die in it. They are followed by large predators that eat the carcasses of small animals. But they die, even moving away from the dead place.
Death Valley in Kamchatka stubbornly keeps its secret. Scientists have found almost 200 corpses of animals and birds. Among them are bears, hares, lynxes, crows, wolverines, eagles and foxes. Animals and birds are much more sensitive than humans. Their sense of smell is so developed that they sense anomalous zones in advance and bypass them.
Then the question arises: “Why animals and birds, despite the danger, nevertheless entered the valley and did not leave it at the first alarm signals of the body?” Despite all the horrors that the valley is fraught with, many tourists come to see it.
Opening the Valley of Death
The Valley of Death in Kamchatka was discovered only in 1930 by Kalyaev (forester) and Leonov (volcanologist). Local residents later said that while hunting, they lost several dogs. They began to search. And when found, the animals were already dead. Death came, according to the hunters, from a sudden stoppage of breathing. Nearby were many more corpses of birds and other animals.
Some of them were completely gnawed, and some of them had already decomposed. Suddenly, the hunters became ill, and in a panic they hurried to leave this place. According to their stories, everyone felt a metallic taste and dryness in their mouths. Weakness spread through the body, the head began to spin and chills appeared. After the hunters left the valley, all the discomfort passed after a few hours.
Unique and dangerous Death Valley (Kamchatka, Russia)
It's not just animals that suddenly die in Death Valley. Since it became known about it, many scientific expeditions have tried to explore it. But some scientists from them never returned home. For 80 years, according to the reserve staff, more than 100 people have died.
Even large animals die in the Valley of Death, such as bears, lynxes, etc. Some of them simply got poisoned by the meat of dead animals that they tasted in the valley. And they died already outside the death zone. At autopsy, scientists found multiple internal hemorrhages in all of them.
What is the secret of Death Valley?
Death Valley in Kamchatkaattracted many scholars. When studying it, they first believed that the death of animals and people occurs due to the high concentration of gases that fill this place. They contain life-threatening compounds that can cause poisoning. And the symptoms were indeed similar to those observed during the autopsy of animals.
Only such harmful compounds act slowly. Therefore, the animals that left the valley would have survived. Moreover, these volcanic substances cannot be so toxic as to poison the meat so much that after eating it, the bears died after a few hours.
What secret do the mountains of Kamchatka keep?
The peninsula not only attracts with the beauty of its places, but also never ceases to amaze scientists. The active Kikhpinych volcano is located on the Eastern ridge of the Kamchatka Mountains. On one of its sides, a valley was discovered in which all animals and birds die. It is also deadly to humans.
Chemical analyzes of the air were carried out in Death Valley. It contains lethal cyanide. It is the most poisonous and fastest acting gas. If ingested, it blocks breathing and a person or animal can die within seconds.
At the same time, cyanide is able to accumulate in the body. And so poison the meat that the animal, having tasted it, dies very quickly. There are only a few buts. The concentration of cyanide in the meat must be very high in this case. But this would require such a quantity in the air that everyone who just entered the valley,would die right on the spot, not having time to go further.
There is a second but, which indicates that cyanide cannot be the cause of such high mortality. Even in small amounts, this gas causes severe tearing. But many travelers and scientists who visited the valley and returned back were in it without gas masks. And they did not suffer from any tearing.
Third but - cyanide kills all life, up to microorganisms. And in the valley there are gnawed corpses. And many are decomposed. And this is the activity of bacteria that need oxygen. Otherwise, the corpses would simply dry up. So, the Valley of Death in Kamchatka is still not fatal for everyone. And it turns out that the concentration of poisonous gas is not so high as to cause deaths, if microorganisms do not die.
Death Valley Animal Rescue
Death Valley is still an inexplicable phenomenon. Scientists after the first studies began to take it much more seriously. They work on its territory only in gas masks. They live nearby, but at a safe distance.
Volunteers are constantly coming to clean it of the carcasses of small animals so that large predators do not enter deadly territory. As a result, people were able to save the lives of many animals.
