A series of extremely rare pictures of seals at the deepest lake in the world

Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, the largest freshwater lake and one of the clearest lakes on the planet. Baikal is home to many species of flora and fauna endemic to the region.

Photographer drives on ice in search of seal burrows.

Dmitry Kokh, a photographer from Moscow, Russia, is passionate about wildlife, especially aquatic animals. It often takes him a long time, many trips to capture the moments of the animals in their natural habitat.

"I'm passionate, love to enjoy the process of trying to create beautiful, memorable photos of animals in the wild," shared Dmitry Kokh.

The photographer has traveled to the farthest places, diving in the deepest seas to find everything that can inspire himself and share with everyone.

Pulka the dog helps Dmitry Kokh during the trip.

Recently, Dmitry Kokh made a trip to Baikal to photograph seals living in the world's largest freshwater lake, which locals call Nerpas.

Recording Nerpas' activities underwater, in their natural environment, is quite difficult, few people can do it. This further motivated photographer Dmitry Kokh to be determined to get many good photos, wanting to show everyone the pristine beauty of this place and the activity of seals in the wild.

Dmitry Kokh has been to Baikal many times during the past 2 years but not once has been successful. Dmitry Kokh used to come in November but the lake was frozen, he returned in January but couldn't see Nerpas because it was too shy, or hiding from people.

This time, Dmitry Kokh came in April, spring time in Siberia, the snow is melting, there is sunshine. His seal hunt includes a local dog named Pulka, who has been trained for this job for many years.

Dmitry Kokh dives under the ice to search.

Pulka searches for seals' burrows among the endlessly stretched ice. After a while, Pulka also found a cave entrance and Dmitry Kokh began to dive beneath the icy ice.

After several dives and intense efforts, Dmitry Kokh finally achieved his precious goal. The Nerpas seal is diving in the cave. Usually, it only comes to the surface once or twice a day to make sure the ice hole at the mouth of the cave is not closed.

Seals swim in the water at Lake Baikal

Seals come ashore once or twice a day