Utachud Island
Utachud Island is among the unique natural sites of South Kamchatka Federal Reserve. It is located 4km from the coast of Vestnik Bay, facing the river of the same name.
Utachud Island is a small rocky island 80 meters high. Except for the grass that covers its slopes it has no vegetation. Actually it is made up of 3 adjoining islets whose extremities form pointed rocky cones from 153 to 183 meters high. It is one of the richest islands in South Kamchatka.
It hosts a large colony of sea-otters (300 of them) that used to be hunted down by local ethnic groups. The island also counts common seals from the subspecies of Kurils as well as dotted seals. On Utachud Island more than 10 species of marine birds can be observed with a total of 22,000 couples. While eagles frequently fly from the continent to the island, it sometimes happens that brown bears swim to it. From spring to December, the water around the island becomes the vacation spot of a small group of gray whales.