Bears and bears and bears, oh my! Yes, I know that is not how it normally goes, but that is certainly how it went for us today.
Southeast Alaska, especially the islands of Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof, has some of the healthiest bear populations anywhere in the world. This is mostly due to healthy forest habitats and abundant salmon runs. If the fish are running into the streams the bears know it, and congregate at these important spots. We visited one of these spots and were rewarded with some of the best bear sightings I have ever seen.
For the first part of our time there, two brown bears were feeding all over the area below a waterfall. One enjoyed plunging deep into a pool, repeatedly coming up with salmon. The other bear preferred chasing fish in a shallow spot. With abundant salmon, the bears can become quite picky. Many prefer female salmon due to the protein-rich eggs. Sometimes they catch male salmon, realize what they have got, and let them go. One of our two bears caught a large coho salmon and scampered into the woods. It soon returned and then another bear came and then another.
Four bears were exciting enough but then a mother with three little cubs arrived. It was so incredible to watch her catch fish and give them to her cubs. They were quite playful, standing up and climbing on top of each other, all the time feasting on salmon. They started to head up one side of the falls while another mother with two cubs of the year appeared on the other side of the falls. Eleven bears at once! These two cubs put on quite a good fishing show of their own devouring pink, chum and coho salmon.
The health of this ecosystem allows for such amazing encounters. The intact forest and well-managed salmon stocks allowed for us to have this experience of a lifetime. And our trip has only just begun!
