Lisy Island

Lisy Island (Остров Лисий, "Fox Island") is an uninhabited island in Nakhodka Bay, within the Nakhodka urban district of Primorsky Krai. A strait about 600 meters wide separates it from the Trudny Peninsula. The island is a remnant of an ancient mountain ridge that was flooded by the sea roughly 10,000–12,000 years ago; it is about 1.6 km long and about 500 m wide.

History

The island was discovered by English navigators in 1856 and by Russian sailors three years later, in 1859. In 1935 an English concession operated on the island. From 1937 to 1941 it held a women's camp for political prisoners, a branch of the Tafuin labor camp site. In 1994 the island was given the status of a natural monument.

Nature

The island's cliffs and crags host large seabird colonies — "bird markets" of Japanese cormorants and great cormorants that feed on the sea. More than 400 plant species grow on the island, including relict ones. A nine-meter Orthodox cross with an icon stands on the summit; it is visible from the water from afar and serves as a landmark for passing ships. Since the late 1940s a dumping ground has operated off the southeastern shore, used for depositing soil dredged during work at the port of Nakhodka.

Legends

The origin of the island's name is not firmly established. By one version, foxes once lived here; by another, foxes never lived on the island at all, and the name itself remains one of the local toponymic puzzles. Residents of Nakhodka also tell stories that secret tunnels and bunkers are cut under the island's cliffs, forming an entire underground city; this version is unconfirmed and is passed on as a legend.

How to get there

The island is uninhabited and can only be reached by water. In summer local companies run excursions to the island from Nakhodka, including the "Usadba 38 Samuraev" (38 Samurais Estate) tourist base. The nearest major airport is in Vladivostok, about 150 km from Nakhodka.