Brown Bears of Katmai

I was very fortunate to get this shot of a classic scene -- a big male brown bear "fishing" atop the Brooks River falls. This was definitely my best shot of the trip. CAMERAS - Photos in this gallery were taken with four cameras: Canon 1D Mark IIN for most bear shots; Canon 5D for wide angle; Canon 20D (Cheri's); and Panasonic/Lumix LX2 ("point & shoot" for pocket use). Most bear shots were taken with a Canon 500mm f/4 lens, a few supplemented by a 1.4X or 2X teleconverter (for effective focal lengths of 700mm or 1000mm).

This is our entire TravelWild tour group (a great group of people!). The brown bear behind us gives you an idea just how big the bears in these photos (at least the big males) really were/are!

This first view out the floatplane window was a very good sign! From the moment our seaplane landed on the lake in front of Brooks Lodge (one of its buildings is visible through the trees), we were seldom anywhere that we couldn't see at least a few bears.

Idyllic setting - the bears "rule" around the Brooks camp, going wherever and whenever they want. With salmon galore, most of them alternated between fishing/eating and resting/digesting, as these two were doing on a sand bar near the Lodge.

The abundance of salmon attracts many fly-fishermen, and the bears seem totally uninterested in them. The fishermen, however, are bound by the same 50-yard rule as other visitors, so anytime a bear comes within 50 yards, they must group together and back away until the bear leaves. If they have a fish on the line when a bear starts towards them, they must immediately cut the line to avoid bears learning that fishermen=fish.

The falls. This is the main attraction, the sole falls on the Brooks River, where big male brown bears (roughly twice the size of American grizzlies, which are the same species, but don't have access to the salmon these guys feast on) "fish." Bears are NOT social animals, so these bears only tolerate being in such close proximity because of the fish. However, turf (or should I say "surf"?) wars are common, with one big male intimidating - or fighting briefly - another for the best fishing spots. Some bears stand atop the falls, catching salmon as they jump, while others stay below the falls, where the water is thick with salmon. There were typically 5-7 bears at the Falls; when this photo was taken, several bears had just carried fish a short distance away to consume them.

From his position atop the falls, this fellow watches salmon jumping, never moving his feet, but simply waiting for one to jump within reach of his mouth...either in the air or into the water at his feet.

One of the estimated 2 million sockeye salmon attempting to make their way up the Brooks River to spawn. While the bears eat thousands of them, thousands more still make it upstream to perpetuate the species.

Wet , watching, and waiting for a salmon to jump within reach.

When salmon jump, many of them jump almost vertically so that they reach the peak/apex of their jump and then fall back into the water. When that apex occurs near a bear's mouth...

...all the bear has to do is chomp down before the fish falls back into the water. At this moment, the poor salmon's last thought is probably something like, "Oh crap! I just fought my way up miles of rivers and lakes, and past all those fishermen's nets, and now that I'm almost home, I had to jump right HERE?!"

About to chomp down on another one.

And another one...

Although some bears catch fish in the air, most are actually grabbed when they jump into the water at the bear's feet.

The next few photos are just other bears patiently waiting for dinner to "arrive."

This is a thinner, ganglier "sub-adult" male (akin to a human teenager), brashly taking advantage of the absence of big males to try his luck atop the Falls. When a big older male shows up, he will quickly depart.

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Come to papa! This fellow is waiting with open mouth for a salmon headed his way.

These two big males occupy the two "prime" spots atop the Falls, and tolerate each other's presence so close only because both spots are so productive. That salmon in his mouth is roughly two feet long and weighs about ten pounds.

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This bear was nicknamed Whiteclaws, and he was the alpha male at the falls (feeding anywhere he pleased) until he was dethroned by another big mail during one night (witnessed by a ranger doing research that night) in a fight that sent both bears crashing over the falls, and ended after the other bear held Whiteclaws under water. From that point on, Whiteclaws was considerably more "humble," although most other bears still fled anytime he approached.