One of my favorite captures from our trip to Alaska this past summer and the one that graces the cover of my Wildlife 2020 calendar. This beautiful bear was very proficient at fishing the river and catching salmon.

During the height of the salmon run when fish are plentiful, an adult brown bear can eat as many as 30 a day! Of course the goal of all that eating is to fatten up to sustain themselves through a long winter’s nap.

Thankfully they stayed focused on the fish and didn’t pay any attention to the pesky photographer. 😉

Well, it doesn’t get much better than this!

When this female popped her head up from the fireweed, our guide exclaimed, “That’s the money shot!” I can’t disagree.

The bear was just beautiful while situated among the flowers of the tundra. What you don’t see are the tree little cubs that were actually nursing right at that moment, tucked down in the flowers.

I’ve previously shared pics of them in the same spot. You can see those captures here.

Seeing a bear with her cubs is special but coming across a blonde colored mom with similarly light-colored cubs was even better. Their coloring is not common in brown bears and they definitely stand out from the more typical dark brown coats you see.

This pretty lady and her yearling cubs were working their way down the river when they came across a very large boar fishing in the middle of the river. Male brown bears will kill cubs in order to get a female to mate and the family was aware of the danger at this moment.

When their mom crossed the river close in front of the boar, the two cubs refused to follow, calling to her to come back. She eventually did and they went around behind the big boy, wisely giving him a wide berth.

Taken in Katmai National Park & Preserve, Alaska.

Sensing danger, the salmon take off as fast as they can – with a 750 pound brown bear in pursuit.

A fun capture that shows the action you see when photographing these massive creatures as they work to fatten themselves up for the winter. This particular bear had three cubs-of-the-year and would stash them in the brush while she came out to fish.

Let me tell you, she was an absolute fishing machine. A half dozen times she fished, each time she was successful on the first attempt. Truly impressive and by far the most efficient of all the bears we saw in Katmai National Park & Preserve.

Her cubs were too young to eat the fish themselves but she of course needed the nourishment to keep herself healthy and making milk for the little ones.

Big bears need big fish to fill them up and this guy managed a nice catch. Certainly the size of that salmon is notable but even more so, check out the claws on the bear! Goodness.

Those would do some serious damage in very short order.  Brown bear claws can be between 3 to 4 inches long, most likely longer than your longest finger.

At this time of year, the bears have a singular focus on food and a large, adult male brown bear may catch and eat up to 30 salmon a day. When the fish are plentiful, the bears will oftentimes only eat the skin, brain, and eggs of the fish as they are the fattiest and have the most calories.

I’ve had a lot of folks ask, “So, how close were the bears?”, when we did our float plane trip into Katmai in Alaska. Well, this image gives you an idea.

Yes, that’s dumb (I prefer brave!) me sitting on my butt while a bear carrying a salmon walks 15 yards away and a second bear is rushing in to try to steal it. 😀

My wife snapped this pic with her cell phone. Don’t think I didn’t realize that she, the guide and the three other photographers were behind me. Ha!

Adding to the story, that second bear pursued the first and both came running right by me, within about 10 yards. An incredible experience but yes, more than a bit disconcerting. Thankfully they cared far more about the fish than the humans.

I do want to add one serious note… We did not undertake this trip without a lot of research, planning and caution. We had a professional guide with us, an Alaskan native who has spent his life around these bears and in remote areas like this. He was also appropriately prepared, if you know what I mean, and we had bear spray.

Even with the experience I have with wildlife, including bears, it is not something I would do without the presence of a professional. While the bears were close, we never felt in danger, truly. Plus, with the salmon running, the bears were solely focused on the fish and never paid us any more attention than a glance.

If you ever head to Alaska, let me know and I will happily refer you to the folks that got us there and back.

 

I am glad this big guy / gal didn’t have eyes for me – although it sure looks like it did!

This is actually a common technique used by bears to get a better look at something. While movies and TV shows always seem to show bears standing as a sign of aggression, that actually is not why they do it.

Bears have eyesight similar to humans and sometimes it helps to just get a higher view – and that is why they stand up. In this case, the bear stood up to better spot the salmon in the river.

Don’t get me wrong, it was intimidating for sure to see this massive creature, much taller than my 6’ 1” frame, pop up and seem to look right at me. But, it worked like a charm for it as it then bounded into the water and caught itself a nice meal.

Alaska’s coastal brown bears are the second largest of the various brown bear subspecies. Much of their size is attributed to their rich diet of clams, grass and of course salmon.

Male coastal brown bears routinely weigh close to 1000 pounds, will be eight feet long and have a shoulder height up to five feet tall. Females weigh around 500 pounds and will be about four feet tall at the shoulder.

Taken in Katmai National Park & Preserve, Alaska.

Look at those faces!

While watching bears along Moraine Creek in Katmai National Park & Preserve two weeks ago, we observed a sow and three cubs working their way down the river. We never did get in a great position to get pics of all four of them together.

However, as our time there was ending, mom stashed her cubs in a field of fireweed while she went and fished. The curious cubs couldn’t help but stick their heads up making for a couple of cute shots. It was an awesome way to end our day with these incredible creatures.

Oh my! I have just returned from two weeks in Alaska and I can’t begin to describe the experience. It was nothing short of amazing and highlighted by a float plane trip that took us into Katmai National Park & Preserve.

There, we spent all day with these incredible creatures, watching them fish, hang out, interact and just be bears. I have tons of pics to share but first up, what is probably my favorite capture from the trip.

This big boar was large and in charge but, quite frankly, not so great at fishing. It took him probably a half dozen times or more to be successful. Here is one of his attempts as he charged after a fish while coming right toward us.

It was certainly a bit disconcerting but the bears are entirely focused on the salmon in the river and largely ignored us.