Tag: Brooks Falls

Famous bruin ‘Shower Bear’ reveals distinctive fishing method

Footage captured this week on Alaska’s Brooks River shows why a famous brown bear has earned the nickname “Shower Bear.”

Fans of the Exlore.org Bear Cams that feature brown bears feeding in Alaska’s Brooks River are celebrating the return of Bear 164, aka Bucky Dent or Shower Bear.

The accompanying footage shows the adult male bear’s distinctive fishing method, which involves standing under the lip of Brooks Falls with his head submerged and watching for migrating salmon falling backward after failing to leap over the lip.

“Bear 164 – Shower Bear also known as Bucky Dent has returned to Brooks!” Explore.org. announced Thursday via social media.

Brooks River, in Katmai National Park, is home to the stars of Fat Bear Week, a fan-driven competition conducted each fall to celebrate the bears’ success in fattening up in advance of the winter hibernation season.

Bear 164 is nicknamed Bucky Dent – after the former Major League Baseball star – because of the dark, vertical indentation on his upper snout, or muzzle.

It’s not clear if he’s shown catching a fish in the accompanying clip, because he’s mostly submerged, but he apparently was successful Wednesday night.

Reads one comment: “His technique pays off for sure! Was cracking up last night when he was catching them back to back.”

Huge relief as beloved bear Otis eats 100 lbs of salmon in 3 days

Otis the beloved Brooks River brown bear has finally started to put on weight, much to the relief of fans. His latest spree: 100 salmon in 3 days.

The most famous brown bear on Alaska’s Brooks River has many concerned because he’s old and has appeared gaunt and arthritic since his tardy emergence from hibernation.

But on Tuesday the folks at Explore.org, which maintains live-feed cameras on the Brooks River, happily reported that the bear, named Otis, “has eaten over 100 [pounds] of salmon in last 36 hours. He has been fishing nonstop!”

It’s wonderful news for his followers, of course, but also for a bear that is 27 years old (the upper end of a brown bear’s life cycle) and must compete with younger, more vigorous bears that battle for prime fishing spots on the river.

“Now I can tell he is better,” one follower commented. “The ribs and bones that were sticking out are smoothing out…. Keep on dear OTIS.”

Another comment: “He needs all the calories he can get. He has to catch up to 747 and the other big boys.”

That’s a reference to a true giant cataloged as Bear 747, aka Bear Force One.

Otis and 747 are perennial finalists in Fat Bear Week, a fan-driven competition held each fall as a celebration of the bears’ success after another feeding season.

But only Otis, a four-time Fat Bear Week champion, is referred to as the king, or King Otis.

To put Otis’ 36-hour feeding spree into perspective, the largest and most dominant bears on the river might consume as many as 100 pounds of salmon per day.

Watch: Momma bear to rescue after cub tumbles down waterfall

A live web-cam has captured dramatic footage showing a brown bear rushing to rescue her yearling cub after it tumbled over a waterfall in Alaska.

A live web-cam has captured dramatic footage showing a brown bear rushing to rescue her yearling cub after it tumbled over a waterfall in Alaska.

The footage, captured by Explore.org’s Bear Cam at Brooks Falls, shows the cub slip past mom at the top of the falls.

The footage continues with mom realizing that her cub was being swept downstream and charging across the water to end threats posed by nearby bears.

Comments beneath the post mostly pertained to the speed with which momma bear was able to reach her cub.

“For anyone who ever foolishly through they could outrun a bear…yeah…no,” one comment reads.

RELATED: Massive relief as ‘King Otis’ the brown bear is alive and well

Another: “Poor mom looks really stressed out from this one. All that huffing. And the way she keeps looking at the bear who just happened to be closest.”

Mom is cataloged as Bear 402. She’s one of dozens of brown bears that spend the summer feeding in the Brooks River in Katmai National Park.

Brooks Falls is one of the prime fishing spots and dominant bears position themselves atop or just below the falls to catch migrating sockeye salmon.

Explore.org has live-feed cameras positioned on the river so the public can watch the bears feed and interact.

Brown bears in Katmai National Park are among the largest bears on the planet, with some exceeding 1,000 pounds by season’s end. (Larger bears might eat as many as 40 salmon per day.)

The bears are the stars of Fat Bear Week, a fan-driven competition conducted each fall to determine which bear took the fullest advantage of feeding season.

The reigning champion is Bear 747, aka Bear Force One.

Brooks River brown bears break out all the moves to catch salmon

With the fishing season underway for brown bears on Alaska’s Brooks River, the National Park Service has provided a humorous description of the catching techniques.

An Alaskan brown bear named Grazer was caught on a live-cam feed recently catching a salmon that had attempted to leap over the lip of Brooks Falls.

“The crowd goes wild! Grazer lands the very first Brooks Falls lip catch of the season,” Explore.org stated via Twitter.

To be sure, bears on the Brooks River in Katmai National Park are masters at fishing, and each seems to favor certain areas and techniques.

With the season getting underway – fans can watch the bears on Explore’s live feeds – the National Park Service has described the techniques via Facebook under the heading:

“How do you catch a fish without a fishing pole? With your bear hands.”

Viewers can click on the post or view the humorous explanations below:

–The Stand and Wait: Bears stand on top the falls and wait for salmon to jump close enough to catch. Bears sometimes slip on the falls (usually when someone is looking) so they rarely shift position.⁣ Sometimes they misjudge and the fish hits the bear in the face. (Insert own metaphor for life).

–The Sit and Wait: Similar to the first one but sitting. Bears sit underneath Brooks Falls in the plunge pool or “jacuzzi,” and wait for salmon to swim to them.”

RELATED: ‘Dominant’ brown bears brawl over fishing rights at Brooks Falls

–The Dash and Grab: Bears chase the fish and attempt to pin them to the river bottom with their paws. ⁣⁣Fast-food on the go!
⁣⁣⁣
–The Snorkeler: Bears look for fish under the water while seeing who can make the most bubbles. ⁣⁣⁣
⁣
–The Diver: Some bears avoid getting their ears wet, so diving is not for every bear. However there are some that will submerge themselves completely underwater to obtain food resources. You do what you got to do. ⁣
⁣⁣⁣
–The Pirate: Arrgggg! It’s Cap’n Bruin Brownbeard the Hungry! Pirating bears plunder already caught fish from other bears. ⁣Keep an eye on the horizon. Avast ye scurvy bear! I’ve come for the fishes!
⁣⁣⁣
–The Sharer: Bears do not usually share food with others (bearing is NOT sharing), but some will share the spoils. (Not the Cap’n) This interaction occurs between bears that are highly tolerant of each other. ⁣BFFs (bear fish friends!)

– The Belly Flop: A big splash requires big bear air, as the bear springs up out of the water or launches off the side to take a fish by surprise. This can be extremely successful or, well, a flop.”

The top image, highlighting the belly flop, was captured by M. Bradburn for the National Park Service.

‘Dominant’ brown bears brawl over fishing rights at Brooks Falls

Brown bears Walker and Bear 856 were caught on video brawling for fishing rights near Brooks Falls in Alaska’s Katmai National Park.

Brown bears in Alaska’s Katmai National Park have arrived on the Brooks River and early season competition for prime feeding areas can be contentious.

The accompanying footage shows adult males Walker and Bear 856 sparring briefly before pausing in a skirmish seemingly won by the larger Bear 856.

Explore.org, which maintains cameras on the Brooks River, stated Sunday via Twitter:

“Brooks Falls heated up last night as two dominant forces went head to head. No serious injuries reported.”

Brown bears at Brooks Falls are famous because of live-cam feeds that allow followers to observe the animals as they fish for sockeye salmon and pack thousands of calories per day.

(Bears that weigh between 700 and 900 pounds in mid-summer can weigh more than 1,200 pounds by early fall.)

Fat Bear Week, held in October, allows fans to vote for their favorite bears in a bracket-style competition. Last year’s winner was Bear 747, a.k.a. Bear Force One, who weighed an estimated 1,400 pounds.

As for Walker, Explore states on its website:

“Walker remained a tolerant and playful bear during his young adult years. He allowed other bears to approach him, and he sought sparring partners for prolonged play fights. However, his priorities have changed as he matured into a fully grown adult.

“With his large body size and assertive disposition, Walker is one the river’s most dominant bears.”

Some background on Bear 856:

“Bear 856 was classified as a young adult in 2006. At the time he had a relatively small body compared to older adults. By his tenth or eleventh year of life, however, he became one of the biggest bears at the river with an assertive disposition equal to his size.”

Fat Bear Week is billed as “a celebration of success” for all of the region’s bears after another bountiful feeding season.

Watch bear cub’s ‘brilliant recovery’ after waterfall tumble

A brown bear cub fishing next to mom atop a waterfall in Alaska was caught on video slipping into the turbulence below and briefly disappearing.

A brown bear cub fishing next to mom atop a waterfall in Alaska was caught on video slipping into the turbulence below and disappearing underwater.

“Who else held their breath watching this?” Explore.org, which operates live bear cameras on the Brooks River,” asked followers via Twitter. Explore describe the cub’s recovery as “brilliant.”

The footage posted below shows the cub vanishing into swirling whitewater after losing its footing atop the falls. Mom looks concerned as her cub struggles and is approached by another large bear.

But as the cub frantically swims toward shallow water near the bank, mom arrives to greet and check on her offspring.

It was a valuable lesson for the cub, who is learning how to catch sockeye salmon migrating up the Brooks River. The mom, Bear 910, is among the many brown bears that appear frequently on Explore’s popular live camera feeds.

Watch: Fishing bear positions itself perfectly for ‘the catch’

Footage has surfaced showing a brown bear so perfectly positioned atop Brooks Falls that a salmon leaps directly into its mouth.

Brown bears at Brooks Falls in Alaska apparently have turned salmon fishing into an art form.

The accompanying slow-motion footage, captured by Michael Gallo, shows a bear so perfectly positioned that a salmon attempting to clear the falls leaps directly into its mouth.

Kodiak Island Expeditions, which was leading a tour of the falls on Saturday, described the event, simply, as “The catch.”

Brown bears on the Brooks River compete for the best fishing spots and the most dominant bears can consume more than 120 pounds of salmon per day.

ALSO: Massive sea creature startles family on Mexican beach; video

The public can observe the bears and their antics via live cameras operated by Explore.org and the National Park Service. The Brooks River is in Katmai National Park.

Surprise visitor appears on BearCam, reveals fishing expertise

Footage from a live BearCam on Alaska’s Brooks River shows a wolf fishing at twilight and catching a salmon.

Brown bears on Alaska’s Brooks River dominate the fishing holes during the sockeye salmon run, but that doesn’t mean they catch all the fish.

The accompanying footage, captured by a Bear Cam operated by Explore.org, shows a wolf searching for and ultimately catching a salmon at twilight. (Both clips are posted below.)

Explore.org described the footage on Twitter: “Close-up of a wolf in infrared on the river bank as it scans the water for fish. He hops into the water when he sees movement.”

ALSO: Watch as massive sea creature startles family on Mexican beach 

Another tweet: “If you’re wondering whether our wolf friend caught a fish – yes, yes he did!”

The Brooks River is in Katmai National Park. In the summer and fall, brown bears gather on the rover and at Brooks Falls to catch salmon as they navigate upriver to spawn in Brooks Lake.

Explore.org operates a series of live cameras on the river in conjunction with the National Park Service.

Watch: Bear slips down waterfall, salmon leaps over bear

Footage from Brooks Falls in Alaska shows a brown bear slipping down a waterfall and a salmon jumping over the bear’s head.

Last week we shared footage of a brown bear bellyflopping after leaping from a waterfall at Brooks Falls in Alaska.

This week a different bear lost its footing at the same location, in Katmai National Park, while trying to intercept sockeye salmon as they forged upriver toward spawning grounds.

As the bear slid down the waterfall, a salmon leaped over its head. The bear would be compelled to reposition itself and try again.

 

Both clips were tweeted by Explore.org, which operates live nature cameras on the Brooks River, where brown bears gorge on salmon and compete for prime fishing spots.

The accompanying footage shows that no matter where a bear might position itself, catching salmon can be difficult.

ALSO: Moose spotted on roof of Montana guest ranch; video

However, some bears are prolific catchers and the more dominant bears may consume more than 30 salmon per day.

Considering that one sockeye salmon packs 4,500 calories, it’s no wonder that the largest brown bears in Katmai National Park will weigh upwards of 1,000 pounds come hibernation season.

“Survival depends on eating a year’s worth of food in six months,” the park states on its website.

BearCam viewers can watch the animals bulk up as the feeding season progresses. In the fall, the public can vote during Fat Bear Week, a March Madness-style competition that serves as “an annual celebration of [feeding] success.”

Last year’s winner was an older bear named Otis, a four-time Fat Bear Week champion.

Watch: Huge bear lands perfect bellyflop at waterfall

After plotting its move for several seconds, a brown bear on Alaska’s Brooks River leaped from the top of a waterfall and landed a perfect bellyflop.

After plotting its move for several seconds, a brown bear on Alaska’s Brooks River leaped from the top of a waterfall and performed a masterful bellyflop.

The accompanying footage, shared by the Department of the Interior, was captured recently by the popular Explore.org live bear camera at Brooks Falls.

“BearCam is back for the season,” the Department of Interior boasted via Instagram. “Watch Alaska brown bears fish (and jump) for salmon live at Katmai National Park. Every year, they congregate to feast on sockeye salmon in the Brooks River.”

The bears, which recently emerged from hibernation, are internationally famous, in large part because the BearCam allows followers to view their fishing prowess and amusing antics.

RELATED: Fat Bear Week appears to have an early frontrunner in ‘Bear Force One’

But the bears are also renowned because of Fat Bear Week, a fan-driven March Madness-style competition during the fall, which serves as “an annual celebration of [feeding] success.”

Last year’s winner was an older bear named Otis, a four-time Fat Bear Week champion.