Russia's Death Valley
In Russia is the Kamchatka Peninsula where there is a chain of volcanoes. This is a part of this beautiful area known as the Valley of Death.
This is the first spooky trip article where humans are actually encouraged NOT to go. But it’s super interesting so I’m including it. But…don’t got there…you will most likely die.
350,000 people live on the Kamchatka Peninsula, there’s walls of volcanoes where you could drive for a whole day and still only see volcanoes. Some of them are still active. Most of this area though is wilderness and snow without people. There are many areas that can be visited, mostly by scientists and volcanologists. But the Valley of Death is a no go.
So, what’s going on there? Well, animals enter and never leave. It’s an area covered in animal corpses all year round. Over a 5-year period in the 80’s it was reported that the corpses of 13 bears, 3 wolverines, 9 foxes, 89 mice, 19 ravens, 40 small bears, 1 hare, and 1 eagle were found. Think about that for a second.
What was strange was that scientists found that the animals were in relatively good health before seemingly dropping dead.
Legend goes that two hunters stumbled upon this area in the 30’s and found no grass or plants and hundreds of dead bodies. The two fell ill with dizziness and headaches and ran. They shared their story and so the curious would go investigate only to not return. If you ask locals, they’ll tell you 80 people have known to have been lost in the valley of death.
Here’s the proven story:
Discovered 44 years ago by Vladimir Leonov and Deryagin, this 2K long and 500 M wide area is located near the Geyzernaya River. When they discovered it, there were five dead bears in one area. Leonov was quoted as writing, “nature seems to have pronounced its curse…all life is snuffed out in a place that breathes extermination and devastation.”
It’s also shrouded in mystery as to what exactly is going on there. When it was discovered, Deryagin called in the strange area filled with animal corpses. A military helicopter arrived, two women and a man came out, took notes, did an autopsy on the bears, took some flesh and teeth, then left. The data gathered that day has never been shared, and no one knows what exactly happened.
The scientists and explorers who have visited it since described feeling dizzy, their lungs having painful cramps, feeling woozy, headaches, and body weakness.
The animals they’ve studied seemed to have died quickly with their lungs filled with blood. That means suffocation.
Volcanoes release all sorts of gasses, so the most logical reason is some of those like Sulfur Dioxide, Carbon Sulfide or Hydrogen Sulfide. But, Helen Robinson, a researcher from the University of Glasgow, thinks it’s Carbon Dioxide. In 1986 on August 21st Lake Nyos had a limnic eruption in Cameroon that released 100,000 to 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 1,746 people died along with 3,500 livestock. The cloud initially rose at 100K per hour aka 62mph and descended onto nearby villages. So, it would make sense a similar situation is continuously happening in the Valley of Death.
Most likely, animals flood there in the spring and summer because of the seemingly empty vegetation, and crystal-clear snow melt water, only to die. Larger animals sense easy prey and head in, only to suffer the same fate.
So, is this valley just overfilled with dead animals? Not as many as you’d think despite the dead bodies being preserved because of the deadly gasses inside of them. A strange part of this valley is that a lot of corpses disappear. Is it scientists taking away corpses for research or to spare animals being tempted to the same fate? Who knows? Nothing can be proven. And some think this is just what tourist sites say to make it more appealing. There’s no humans living near or in the valley, and scientists don’t visit that often or have the capacity to remove hundreds of animals.
And why do the animals keep going there when death is all around them? Why don’t they flee like humans do when they feel the strange symptoms? Who knows, but hopefully with more careful research done in the valley of death we’ll get some answers eventually.
Very strange…
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