Outdoors – Page 8 – Syndication Server

Yellowstone releases body-worn camera footage of July 4 shootout

The suspect threatened to kill an employee and carry out mass shootings at Canyon Village in Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone National Park released body-worn camera footage from a July 4 shootout with a suspect who threatened to kill an employee and carry out mass shootings at the Employee Dining Room at Canyon Village.

The suspect was killed in the shootout, and an officer sustained a gunshot wound to a lower extremity and transported to a medical facility for treatment, the National Park Service reported Thursday.

The video, which can be viewed from the above link, describes what happened during the incident at the iconic park.

“Just after midnight on July 4, the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center received a report that a concession employee had been unwillingly held by an individual for several hours on the late evening of July 3,” the video report states. “The individual, later identified by NPS law enforcement officers as Samson Lucas Bariah Fussner, also a concession employee, allegedly came to the employee’s residence in Canyon Village armed with a knife and handgun.

“The report also indicated that Fussner threatened to kill the employee and target the Employee Dining Room in Canyon Village the following day. The Employee Dining Room…is the primary food and beverage location for Canyon-based employees of Xanterra Parks and Resorts.”

The employee, who managed to escape, called for help and told officers that Fussner planned to carry out mass shootings at the Employee Dining Room and July 4 events outside the park.

Twenty National Park Service law enforcement officers, including the Yellowstone/Grand Teton Special Response Team, responded to the 911 call and began searching for the suspect in and around Canyon Lodge.

They found the suspect’s unoccupied and unlocked vehicle in the lodge’s main parking lot, and inside discovered an unsecured handgun.

At 8:05 a.m., Fussner emerged from the woods with a semi-automatic rifle and encountered an NPS law enforcement officer near the Canyon Lodge,” the video report states. “Fussner fired at Officer #3.”

Soon after, another officer shot Fussner, ending the shootout.

“This incident is still under investigation,” the NPS stated. “The investigation, which includes the actions taken by NPS law enforcement officers, is being led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

Hawaii snorkeler warned about shark, reacts accordingly

A photographer in Hawaii has shared footage showing a blacktip reef shark swimming just feet from shore toward a lone snorkeler.

A photographer in Hawaii has captured footage showing what appears to be a blacktip reef shark swimming just feet from shore toward a lone North Shore snorkeler.

The footage, captured by Bryan Phillips and shared by Clark Little, features suspenseful “Jaws” music and a warning shout to the snorkeler: “Hey, there’s a shark right there! Look down!”

Treading water with a shark nearby would be unsettling for just about anyone. Check out the video to view the snorkeler’s response:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAFfNDtxvCH/

Epic shot of leaping tuna almost as good as photographer’s reaction

Footage shows a jubilant photographer as he realizes he has timed his shot of the approaching tuna perfectly.

Dramatic footage showing a giant tuna nearly leaping into a boat while chasing a bait is circulating this week via social media.

“Incredible capture by [Daniel Svensson Persson] of this bluefin fully launching itself right next to the boat⁠,” BD Outdoors exclaimed Wednesday via Instagram. (See video below.)

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The footage is compelling because the tuna approaches like a missile and is only yards from the vessel when it leaps. But the highlight might be a jubilant Persson’s reaction while communicating to friends that he had just timed a perfect shot.

Check out the footage:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAEi1oWixy1/

Woman ignores rules at Yellowstone, gets severely burned

The 60-year-old was walking in a prohibited thermal area of Yellowstone National Park with her husband and dog when the incident occurred.

A woman walking in a prohibited thermal area of Yellowstone National Park sustained severe burns to her lower leg when she broke through the thin crust and into scalding water.

The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, was walking off-trail with her husband and leashed dog near Mallard Lake Trailhead at Old Faithful when the incident occurred Monday afternoon, the National Park Service reported.

The husband and dog were uninjured, but the woman suffered second- and third-degree burns. She was treated at the park’s medical clinic before being transported via helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for further treatment.

The couple ignored two rules at Yellowstone by going off-trail and taking their dog. Pets are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas. The couple could be cited by Yellowstone law enforcement. The incident is under investigation.

It is the first known thermal injury this year in Yellowstone.

To show how dangerous thermal areas are in Yellowstone, the National Park Service posted images of Crested Pool. One is the normal view, the other an infrared view (yellow=hottest, blue=coolest). The pool is 159 degrees and the outer edge is 107 degrees.

Not only is the pool lethally hot, but so are the grounds surrounding the hydrothermal feature.

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“Boardwalks and trails protect you and delicate thermal formations,” the National Park Service states online. “Water in hot springs can cause severe or fatal burns, and scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust around hot springs.”

From the Post Register in Idaho Falls:

“Deaths from hot springs are more common even than deaths from animal encounters in the park. According to the United States Geological Survey, there have been at least 22 deaths and hundreds of injuries related to hot springs since 1872. In contrast, two people have been killed in bison encounters and eight from bear encounters since 1872.

“Many thermal areas can be above 150 degrees Fahrenheit, some exceeding 185 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the USGS. Even seconds of exposure can cause serious burns.

“Numerous severe injuries have been a result of dogs jumping into hot springs, and their owners trying to save them.”

Watch: Surfer discovers he’s not alone while dropping into wave

Footage shows Australia’s Wade Goodall sharing a wave with a dolphin and a wonderful symmetry occurs during their brief ride.

Australian surfer Wade Goodall is featured in a YouTube video showing that at nearly 38 years old and having suffered several major leg injuries, he’s still a phenomenal talent.

But what also stands out in the footage – and what’s being shared this week via social media – is a portion that begins at the 3-minute mark, when a dolphin positions itself directly below Woodall and rides the left-breaking wave in unison with Goodall.

Viewers can click here to watch the YouTube version. Below is the shorter Instagram version, courtesy of Surfline, along with the caption: “ ‘Thought you were going right!’ – Dolphin.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_8lTXgSwYj/

Viewers will note that Goodall spots the dolphin almost immediately after standing up and a wonderful symmetry occurs during their brief ride.

Surfline followers obviously enjoyed the clip and the top comment was well received: “We are so damn lucky this is our chosen culture.”

The footage is credited to Milo Inglis.

Grizzly bear cub appears to dance while getting its scratch on

Footage from Alberta, Canada, shows a large grizzly bear cub breaking out all the moves while enjoying a good scratch.

Alaska’s Denali National Park on Sunday shared footage showing a grizzly bear “satisfying its itch” by rubbing its back against the bottom of a campground sign.

“While amusing, this video serves as a reminder that the Park is home to many bears and other animals that may be encountered on or near roads and in other front-country areas,” Denali stated via Instagram. “As you travel in the park this shoulder season, enjoy wildlife from a safe distance.”

The clip is reminiscent of footage captured in 2022 by a trail camera operated in Alberta, Canada, by the Help Alberta Wildies Society, which studies wild horses.

The accompanying Alberta clip is a classic because the large grizzly bear cub stands on its hind legs and appears to dance while rubbing against a tree.

It’s made more entertaining by music that transforms from suspenseful to fun and lively once the scratching begins. Click here to view the footage if a video player does not appear below.

https://www.facebook.com/HelpAlbertaWildiesSociety/videos/742508471239072

As Fat Bear Week nears, Chunk shows why this could be his year

Footage shows the massive brown bear struggling “to haul his large caboose up a hill” as fans get ready to vote for their favorite bruins.

In case anyone wonders if the brown bears of Alaska’s Katmai National Park are ready for Fat Bear Week, check out the footage posted below.

It shows 32 Chunk, arguably the fattest bear never to have been named Fat Bear Week champion, struggling “to haul his large caboose up a hill,” according to Explore.org.

Explore.org, with support from Katmai National Park, maintains live webcams on the Brooks River and at Brooks Falls.

Viewers can watch the bears gorging on salmon each summer and fall as they build fat reserves necessary to get them through the winter hibernation season. (Click here if you don’t see a video player.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_5nX1wpz99/

Fat Bear Week, a celebration of the bears’ fishing success, is a fan-supported competition head each October. This year’s contest is Oct. 2-8.

While Chunk has never been voted winner of the bracket-style competition, he finished runner-up last year to Grazer.

Grazer, a 19-year-old female bear with “conspicuously blond ears,” was the obvious fan favorite, defeating Chunk in the final bracket by a 2-1 margin after nearly 1.3 million votes were cast.

Expect the hype for this year’s competition to ramp up soon.

Seal develops whale of a problem after feeding mishap; photos

A harbor seal in the Pacific Northwest on Friday found itself in the mouth of a humpback whale and in dire need of an exit plan.

A harbor seal in the Pacific Northwest on Friday found itself in the mouth of a humpback whale and in desperate need of an exit strategy.

The image atop this post, captured by Tim Filipovic of Eagle Wings Tours, shows the moment the seal realized it needed to be elsewhere, and quickly.

A secondary image, by Brooke Casanova of Blue Kingdom Whale & Wildlife Tours, reveals a similar expression of bewilderment and fear.

Humpback whale with seal in its mouth. Photo by Brooke Casanova

Erin Gless, executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, told FTW Outdoors that its member vessels were whale watching in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, southwest of Victoria, B.C., when the lunge-feeding whale scooped up the seal.

She described it as an “incredibly rare event” but stressed that the seal was not in danger of becoming prey.

“Humpback whales eat small fish and krill, not seals,” Gless explained. “While they have very large mouths, their throats are roughly the size of a grapefruit, so they can’t swallow something as large as a seal.”

https://www.facebook.com/ThePWWA/posts/pfbid02zFdXUgFMgcMucrgJroWKMcyMtpkPM3ic5AvFTpUXgQurBapoJw2grK3r7C3yEPH3l

Humpback whales typically feed on bait fish by lunging, either vertically or horizontally, through large schools. They can take in thousands of fish in one gulp.

The female humpback whale that gulped the seal (temporarily) is scientifically cataloged as BCX1876, nicknamed Zillion.

Gless recalled how Zillion ended up with the pinniped in her mouth:

“At one point, Zillion opened her jaws and lunged toward the surface for a mouthful of fish, but got an unexpected surprise when she realized that mouthful also contained an unsuspecting harbor seal!

“The harbor seal was likely feeding on the same small fish and found itself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Zillion repeatedly opened her jaw and lowered her head into the water until the seal was able to swim away.”

In reference to the image atop this post, Gless remarked via Facebook that the seal looked “like a little kid in a wave pool.”

River otter pulls child off dock and underwater in harrowing attack

A child walking down a dock with their mother was snatched by a river otter and pulled underwater in a frightening encounter in Washington.

A child walking down a dock with their mother was snatched by a river otter and pulled underwater in a harrowing encounter in Bremerton, Washington.

A moment later, when the child resurfaced, the mother grabbed the child and lifted them out of the water as the river otter continued to attack, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The frightening incident occurred around 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Bremerton Marina, located west of Seattle.

The mother was bitten in the arm, and the child sustained scratches and bites to the top of the head, face and legs. The river otter continued to pursue them as they left the dock.

The child, whose name and gender were not released, was treated at St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale, the Kitsap Sun reported.

“We are grateful the victim only sustained minor injuries, due to the mother’s quick actions and child’s resiliency,” WDFW Sergeant Ken Balazs said. “We would also like to thank the Port of Bremerton for their quick coordination and communication to their marina tenants.”

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services was called in by fish and wildlife officers to trap and lethally remove river otters from the marina. One river otter was trapped at the scene and was transported to the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab for further evaluation, including testing for rabies.

Watch: ‘Drama’ in Yellowstone as grizzly bears brawl over carcass

A guide has captured an “incredible scene” involving two male grizzly bears fighting near a dead bison in Yellowstone National Park.

A guide has captured an “incredible scene” involving two male grizzly bears fighting over a bison carcass in Yellowstone National Park.

“Drama at the dinner table!” Yellowstone Wolf Tracker exclaimed Thursday via Instagram, adding that a lone wolf closely witnessed the brawl. “907F, of the Junction Butte Pack, looks on as two male grizzly bears fight over the remains of a deceased bison.”

The accompanying footage shows the bears shoving and swiping at each other, exchanging surprisingly swift blows as the wolf remains close to the carcass.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_1eu4CyMTk/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D&img_index=2

The footage is in three parts on the swipe-through Instagram post. The second and third frames show a more peaceful coexistence between all three animals.

The footage was captured through a spotting scope last week by Yellowstone Wolf Tracker guide Luke Jensen.

According to Yellowstone National Park, 150 to 200 grizzly bears live within park boundaries, while an estimated 965 grizzly bears inhabit the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and northwest Montana.

Grizzly bears and wolves rarely interact with each other except when potential food is involved.