Brown beauties. A mother bear (right) has just pulled her face out of the water (unsuccessfully "bobbing for salmon") as one of her 2-3 year-old cubs looks on.
Salmon frantically "boiling" on the surface get nearby bears very excited, like this fellow, who jumps into the fray hoping to catch a confused fish. Boiling apparently occurs as a chain reaction escape response when fish, packed "wall to wall" in the river, are startled by one fish suddenly darting into another. One episide of boiling salmon near the bridge began with only one sub-adult bear in sight, but within two minutes 11 bears (including two sows with cubs!), appeared - running out of the woods and marsh. They were all apparently attracted by the splashing sound of the churning salmon.
