!!!Moneron Island

Photos by Sergey Semenov,
member of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

05 August 2022

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

The Eurasian mainland and Sakhalin Island are separated by the Strait of
Tartary, with its largest island known as Moneron. When an expedition
led by La Perouse was exploring these waters in 1787, Paul Merault
Monneron, a French engineer officer, discovered a new piece of land; the
island was named after him. However, it was only "new" to Europeans; the
indigenous people of this area, the Ainu, had known about it for a long
time - they called it Todomoshiri ("island of sea lions"). When the
Japanese mention the island, they say Kaibato: this name is a reference
to the Ainu people.

[{Image src='01_Moneron.jpg' caption='Moneron Island\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='506'}]

The area of Moneron is about 30 km2 (7.7 mi2), it is 7 km (4.3 mi) long
and 4 km (2.5 mi) wide. The rocky coastline stretches for 24 km (15 mi).
Like many other islands, it is of volcanic origin. It lost its land
connection with Sakhalin and the Japanese islands 1.8 million years ago,
and is now separated from Sakhalin by 30 nautical miles (56 km, 35 mi).
People who lived here did fishing and sea hunting for centuries.

[{Image src='02_Moneron.jpg' caption='Moneron at sunset\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='506'}]

At the beginning of the 20th century, the island came under Japanese
jurisdiction, and it began to be actively inhabited. The oldest
surviving building was built in 1910. A weather station was built at the
same time, which is still in operation today, and an underwater
telegraph cable over 50 km (31 mi) long was laid from Sakhalin. In 1914,
a lighthouse with powerful underground utilities was erected, which not
only survived to this day, but is also actively used. The island's
economy was based on logging and fishing.

[{Image src='03_Moneron.jpg' caption='Cologeras Bay\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='506'}]

In the 1920s and 1930s, the population of Japan's Moneron reached 900
people, but together with seasonal workers employed in the maritime
economy, there could simultaneously be as many as 2,000 people on the
island. Near the Bay of Kologeras, there were rice paddies, the remains
of rice terraces and the irrigation system have survived to this day.

[{Image src='04_Moneron.jpg' caption='Misty morning\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='378'}]

After World War II, the island became part of the USSR's Sakhalin Oblast
(Region). A seine fleet base was set up here, and a fish processing
plant was built in the southern part of Chuprov Bay. By 1959, the
settlements of Moneron, Krasny, and Bodry had about 500 permanent
residents, but in the next decade the fishing industry in Sakhalin
Oblast switched to the more profitable distant-water ocean fishing, and
the island became less and less populated.

[{Image src='05_Moneron.jpg' caption='Moneron from the North\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='599'}]

Having become completely uninhabited by the 1970s, Moneron received the
status of a closed border area, which had a beneficial effect on the
local flora and fauna. Now it is a marine nature park, which is
rightfully considered one of the gems in Sakhalin Oblast. Nature here is
very diverse: emerald hills and mountains (the highest point - 493 m
(1,617 ft)), alpine meadows, rivers, waterfalls, columnar cliffs and
grottoes with colored walls. There are ringed seals, largha seals, and
Steller sea lions that frolic in the bright turquoise water here; and
the southeastern coast is home to the largest seashore colony of birds.

[{Image src='06_Moneron.jpg' caption='Green Moneron\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='506'}]

Moneron is influenced by the Tsushima Current, so the water is not only
transparent, but also very warm. Besides, the water area abounds with
reefs: it's a real paradise for divers! This is not just Russia's first
marine park: it's the only island nature park in the country. A walk
with AirPano will help you discover this beautiful spot of Russia.

\\ \\
[17 panoramas of Moneron Island|Geography/Asia/Russia/Pictures/Moneron_island]

[{SET customtitle='Moneron Island (AP)'}]












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