Survival 101

Wednesday, 18 August: Part I

I have another story to tell you, but first …

A beautiful sunrise greets the day at Geographic Harbor.

When we woke up at 6:30a, the makings of a great day were already in place. The sky was clear; the scenery was tinged pink by the rising sun; the bears were already on the beach. The plan was to do one more outing at Geographic Harbor and then move the boat to a different location. Figuring that breakfast could wait until later, we headed ashore as soon as we were all kitted out.

Let me give you some perspective on those paw prints all around me!

One of those prints probably belongs to this one here!

But I said I had a story, so let me get on with it.

We settled on the same side of the creek we were on yesterday afternoon, but closer to the water this time. The bears were already fishing, plunging in and out of the creek in their quest for salmon. Having already taken nearly 1,500 pictures of the bears, I was content to sit back and watch them, clicking the shutter occasionally — until Triplet Sow showed up with her cubs in tow.

She took up position on a gravel spit not far from where we sat. Their backs were to us, so I turned my attention elsewhere. Minutes later, loud growls and a flurry of activity had us all looking back in their direction to see what was going on. It looked like a fight had broken out and the entire family was involved. I have to admit to thinking, “Not again.”

It turns out that Triplet Sow was teaching her cubs survival basics. She had caught a fish, but instead of just giving it to them, she was making them work to earn it.

Triplet Sow catches a salmon …

… and makes her cubs fight her for the fish.

She doesn't make it easy on the cubs…

… they really have to work for their breakfast.

The salmon breaks apart, and two of the cubs get lucky.

The cub closest to us starts to eat his share, but is soon running again …

... there's just no peace from his siblings!

Splashing across the creek, he sets his fish down in front of us.

No, he wasn’t giving his fish to us for safekeeping; he was just catching his breath. In seconds, he had the treasured piece of salmon clutched in his mouth and was streaking off with his siblings on his tail.

Proud Mama, her mouth bloodied, struts past us and follows her cubs.

By the way, I should note that not all the blood around a bear’s mouth is salmon blood. Some of it is their own. You see, they eat the salmon bones and all, and those bones can scratch their lips and mouth quite a bit.

Shortly after the Triplet Family headed off into the tall grass behind us, Yearling Sow showed up with her remaining cub. The cub was really stressed — after what happened yesterday, is it any wonder? He followed the sow closely and didn’t stray far from her.

The cub’s fear is obvious.

Not only did the cub have this look of fear in his eyes, but he was constantly standing up to peer around. At one point, he and the sow were out of our sight behind some grass. Every few minutes, we’d see his head pop up, barely visible above the grass. He repeated this behavior at least 10 times before he and the sow went back to the rocks on the far side of the beach. Though we couldn’t help but smile at his jack-in-the-box performance, it was sad to see the cub so stressed.

May seem like cute behavior, but it’s a sign of stress.

Little Timmy’s Brother goes fishing close on the heels of his mother.

You might wonder why we named this cub “Little Timmy’s Brother?” I honestly don’t know who came up with it first, but somehow it fit, and so the name stuck. Yeah, I know, we’re anthropomorphizing a bit, but after yesterday, you’ll just have to forgive us.

Just so you know that I did take my eyes off the bears every once in a while …

Glaucous-Winged Gull (first winter plumage)
[I think … let me know if I’m wrong]

We really could have stayed longer on the beach and continued to visit with these bears. In fact, we could have stayed at Geographic Harbor all day, or all week. It was our choice. But we were ready to move on and see another part of the Katmai Peninsula. So, around 10:00a, we asked Lindsay to radio Lee to pick us up.

On the way back to the Single Star, we are entranced by a
rainbow of colors rimming the clouds.

Lenticular Clouds at Geographic Harbor

Farewell to a truly spectacular place.

As we ate the BLTs and potato salad that Lindsay prepared for brunch, Lee charted a course for the next stop of our trip.