Sockeye salmon enter the waters around Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska during the summer. They are making their way...

Mine

Alaska, USA

Sockeye salmon enter the waters around Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska during the summer. They are making their way upstream to their natal home to spawn. They are met on the way by a host of brown bears intending to interrupt their journey.

The salmon run is very important to the lifecycle of the bears. Each must eat enough to gain a sufficient amount of weight to make it through the long winter hibernation ahead. Bears have been observed eating up to 40 salmon per day, though not always the whole fish. They are protective of their catch as there are others out to “pirate” or steal it. This bear makes eye contact just after the catch, keeping me in check, as if to say “stay away”. The sockeye’s death gives life to the bear. Photo © copyright by Dr. Edward Mikol.

 « Wildlife  « Brown Bears 

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