The Kuril Islands are not a people place, a haven, rather, for sea birds and marine mammals. Largely treeless, often cold and fog-bound, these volatile volcanic outliers form a link in the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' which stretches between Kamchatka and Sakhalin in the Russian Far East. Fought over by Japan and Russia, the northern and central islands are now largely uninhabited. Yet lingering traces remain of now-vanished Ainu inhabitants, of Japanese garrisons and of Russian fishermen, prisoners of the Gulag, even Soviet navy submariners.

These images were taken with Nikon D200 (10 mpx) using RAW format, and are available for licensing.