Photo Exhibition "Amazing Secrets of the Baikal Region’s Preserved Nature" Opened at INRTU Technopark

Employees of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Zapovednoe Pribaikalye" organized a photo exhibition at INRTU Technopark. The exposition presents 32 spectacular photos - rare views of Pribaikalsky National Park and Baikal-Lensky State Reserve, natural monuments and simply enchanting landscapes of the Lake’s western shore.

As the organizers of the creative project emphasize, the name of the exhibition - "Amazing Secrets of the Baikal Region’s Preserved Nature" - determines its content.

"Among the authors there are people for whom nature has become an important part of life. Many of the works belong to employees of the scientific department. Pavel Zhovtyuk, for example, "catches" such unusual shots of animals that we ourselves are sometimes surprised and delighted by his finds. The main characters in his photos are not tame, but it looks as if they are posing for the photographer on purpose," says Elena Khomkolova, the leading methodologist of environmental education.

On the unique photos INRTU students can see protected landscapes, relic plants, interesting moments fr om the life of animals.

Each photo is accompanied by a short description. For example, the commentary to the photo of a soaring white-tailed eagle tells visitors that it is the largest nesting bird of prey in the Irkutsk region, listed in the Red Book. The portrait of a diving duck with contrasting black and white plumage attracts with its direct liveliness. Pavel Zhovtyuk called this successful shot "Let's Roll".

One of the most memorable shots is of Izhilkhey Island, a small rock rising lonely above the Strait of the Small Sea. There is not a single blade of grass or tree on this island - only lichens grow here. However, this does not prevent colonies of cormorants and gulls from inhabiting the rock in the warm season. That's why Izhilhei is called - the port of birds.

The exhibition area is decorated with figures from the animal world - a cute flying squirrel, Baikal seals, a charming fox with a fish in its teeth, an impressive grouse on the stream, a pine-tailed deer and a reindeer.

The photographers also presented the rich floral palette of the Baikal region - ornamental clausia solsticea, bright blue larkspur and white starwort are pleasing to the eye.

Sergey Nebogin, a researcher at the Laboratory of Waste Comprehensive Processing of the Power and Metallurgical Complex, was interested in the photo exhibition. He considers the exhibition a gift to all INRTU students, who, after hard research work, can relax and even dream about their upcoming vacation:

"Our region's natural richness sparks the imagination. I visited a number of places that were captured by the authors of the exhibition, such as Kharantsy, Aya Bay, Buguldeika and the marble quarry, which has become a popular place for informative tourism and photo shoots. At the exhibition I learned that the age of this marble is estimated by experts to be about 2 billion years.

The quality of the photos and the angles are impressive. I understand how difficult it is to take a close-up photo of a shy sable or to "catch" a black stork in flight.

The "Preserved Baikal Region" exhibition has inspired me and I'm already making plans wh ere I can go in summer not only to relax but also to observe nature".

The exposition "Amazing secrets of the Baikal region’s preserved nature" will be placed in the Technopark for a few days, then it will be moved to the Utkin Library. The exposition is regularly updated and free of charge.

Contacts of the Department of environmental education of FGBU "Zapovednoe Pribaikalye" 8 (3952) 350 - 615, ext. 172.

This academic year the staff of "Zapovednoe Pribaikalye" became participants of the Festival of Science in INRTU. For the first time the program included the "Preserved Quiz", which gave students an opportunity to test their knowledge about the nature of their native land.

Photo by Arseny Chekmarev