Sitting with the Coastal Bears of Katmai

Monday, 16 August

Pitching across the Shelikof Strait — and rocking and rolling a bit, too — we have arrived at Geographic Harbor on the Katmai Peninsula. If this afternoon’s bear viewing experience is anything to go by, we’re in for a fantastic time this week.

Left: Geographic Harbor is marked with a gold star.
right: a Google maps image of our anchorage for the next two nights.

We wanted to get an early start for the crossing, so we were up around 6:30a and on the move shortly thereafter. Though the Shelikof Strait wasn’t what I would call smooth, it could have been far worse. Thanks to our Transderm Scop patches, we weathered the trip just fine. Like a baby in a cradle, we were lulled to sleep for part of the crossing; the rest, we spent either visiting with Lee on the bridge or weeding through yesterday’s photos and video footage in the main cabin. In other words, it was a quiet, uneventful morning. By 11:00a, we were in sight of the Katmai coast; by noon we were anchored in Geographic Harbor.

Following the 1912 eruption of the Novarupta volcano, scientists and researchers arrived in this area en masse. The National Geographic Society was amongst those that led expeditions to Katmai. On their last expedition in 1919 they discovered a harbor in the previously uncharted Amalik Bay. And that’s how Geographic Harbor was named.

Rain, fog, and overcast greets us at Geographic Harbor.
(in addition to the Single Star, which is the small white dot on the right),
there are two other small boats anchored here)

Once Lee was anchored in the harbor, we wasted no time having lunch, which consisted of a hearty chicken noodle soup — the kind that sticks to your bones. Then, it was time to don our bear watching attire. Following Lee’s suggestion, we had come prepared with chest waders. We looked far from fashionable as we boarded the skiff, but we knew the bears wouldn’t care. Besides, the important thing was to stay dry and warm as we waded to and from the skiff to shore.

Maybe the bears do care that we’re not fashionably attired;
this sow and cub have turned their backs on us.
[photo courtesy of Lindsay)

In North America, there are two types of brown bears — the inland bears (commonly referred to as the grizzly) and the coastal bears. Katmai is a haven for the latter and is said to have the world’s highest concentration of brown bears. Though the grizzly seems to have the more fearsome reputation, it is actually the smaller of the two types, because it lacks the salmon-rich diet on which the coastal bears subsist.

But, you didn’t come here to read a thesis on brown bears. There’s a lot of information on the web for those who want more information. You can start with this Wikipedia link. As for me, I’m going to get straight to some of the 209 photographs I came back with from this afternoon’s outing. I’m sure I would have taken more pictures, but the rainy weather was far from optimum, so I limited my shutter clicks. (Apologies in advance for all the rain drops in these pictures, but they’re really not my fault!)

Hello there!

What an amazing experience this afternoon was. No sooner were we on land that we had bears all around us; one even walked by within 50 feet (~15 m) of us (it seemed a lot closer to me). It didn’t even turn to look at us! We had many such encounters throughout the afternoon. In fact, there were a few times when they were much too close for the short end of my 100-400 mm lens and I couldn’t focus to get a decent picture.

The really amazing part … we were so incredibly comfortable in their presence; our hearts didn’t pitter-patter even the tiniest bit faster when they stopped to check us out before continuing on their way. They had other things on their minds — namely, SALMON!

My mistake. For a minute there, I thought you were a salmon!

There were walking bears, sleeping bears, fishing bears. There were sows with cubs, big boars, and subadults. Quite a few of them looked bedraggled — some from the almost-constant rain; others from splashing around in the creek in their quest for … you guessed it — SALMON!

Eberhard found us a private spot down-creek from a group off the larger boat anchored in the harbor, and we settled down to enjoy the company of the bears.

Cubs aren’t the only ones that take a load off to rest, adults do too.

This cub has learned that if mom is on alert, so is he.

When nature calls!

This sow and cub came running out of nowhere. The sow was scrubbing
her face like mad, going into the water to wash her face in between
rolling around on the ground in a frenzy. Eberhard concluded thaT
someone used bear spray on her. The cub, in the meantime, seemed unfazed.

This yearling has a habit of rearing up to check things out;
I've dubbed him "Curious George."

Curious, another cub comes to check us out, then ...

... comfortable with our presence, lies down and watches us.

In the meantime, mom keeps a watchful eye from a distance.

A fishing lesson in the rain ...

… nets the cub a tasty bit of salmon.
(the cub did have some help from mom)

You'd think all that splashing around would scare the salmon off ...

... but you'd be surprised how often the bears are successful.

As one dines on tasty salmon, another is trying to catch dinner.

Left: That gull sure looks like it's cheering the bear on!
Right: I was going for a bird shot when this bear so rudely interrupted!

Here fishie, fishie! Come to Mama!

They sure look menacing when they're coming towards us!

This big boar is the only one fishing the deep hole in the creek.
(just check out the expression on the face of that fish)

he’s the dominant boar around here and he's got the scars to prove it.

After four hours ashore with the bears, we returned to the Single Star. Taking a page out of the bears’ daily menu, we had salmon for dinner — but our fish was grilled!

There really are no words to describe the experience of sitting with the bears; having them come within touching distance. Amazing is the only word that comes close, but the word has been used so often for so many things that it has lost the impact it once carried. Suffice it to say that the experience far exceeded our expectations; and we’ve only just begun. The plan is to anchor in the calm waters of Geographic Bay for two nights to continue our bear viewing activities here before moving somewhere else on the peninsula.

THE END ... for today!

On that note … goodnight.