To reach the big-eyed sweet water seals of lake Baikal, we drifted through beautiful glassy waters. The sun was shining through the clouds on the deepest lake in the world. To protect the seals in this unique ecosystem, we anchored the boat on the backside of the island and walked silently across it with a ranger. A wall separated us and we could only look at the seals through the small holes in it. With the binoculars they seemed so close and even that they did know we were there, they also did know, we would not harm them. Our visit lasts only the allowed 20min and we returned to the boat to experience natural hot springs not far away.
