Bear cubs filmed body surfing and splashing in waves of the Sea of Okhotsk

The shoot, made in the south of Sakhalin, Russia’s largest island cost local photographer Sergey Lyubachenko his drone when he flew it too close to one of the cubs. 

‘The two of them walked to the beach in the early hours of the morning before the sun was up.

'They sniffed around the shore, checking for any food thrown out by the waves, and then walked to a rock where it turned out they hid a couple of fish’,  said Sergey. 

‘They ate and went for a splash in the sea.’

At some point the duo went back to the shore. 

‘One of them sat down and scraped the sand towards its nose, looking like it was about to pull a blanket of sand over its head.’ 

The moment looked so perfect that Sergey flew the drone closer - too close for the fast reacting predators who immediately clawed it down. 

The two swimmers were just over a year old, the age when brown bears start living independently without mother. 

The video was filmed some time ago, but Sergey hesitated to share it because he believed that the quality wasn’t high enough. 

The stunning clip won a lot of praise among his readers, with many of them saying that they’ve never seen brown bears during such a peaceful and happy play in the sea. 

‘Kids are kids. They play like there is not a worry in the world, and you forget that they have years of survival ahead of them.’ 

See more of Sergey's pictures and video from the island of Sakhalin