Expedition Great Bear: A Meal Fit for a Bear

Everywhere we look, we see the tracks of grizzly bears and wolves. Big day beds carved out in the sand punctuate the beaches, creating resting places for the growing belly of a feeding grizzly.

What looks like a tree stump from afar turns out on closer inspection to be brown bear — a grizzly. There is actually a pair of them, feeding casually but continuously on the dying salmon.

Though the water temperature is probably no more than 50 degrees, the bears seem to have no problem taking the plunge. Sometimes they take the fish to the shore to dine, but at other times they simply strip of flesh while standing neck deep in the chilly water.

The bears seem to be aware of each other, but there is no aggression. The abundance of fish is a useful distraction.

Every now and then, one of the bears will swim to the other side of the channel and contemplate fishing from the opposite bank. With fish everywhere, it is hard to know if this is a better strategy. Yet, Ian McAllister tells us that this has not been a terribly good year, and salmon numbers all along the coast are down.

We, too, have entered many inlets to find no fish. This inlet is different: The salmon are out in force, far too many for all the predators to have much of an impact on their numbers.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• bears
• salmon
• canada