This brown bear could catch salmon in its sleep. Though bears will eat just about anything, they might not have a snack that they favor more than salmon. Especially these coastal browns who have all you can eat buffet in Alaska. The large animals will often spend hours fishing, and are normally successful in their endeavors. Some bruins have been known to catch and eat over 30 salmon in one day.
To be clear, they don’t just eat fish. Bears have a dozen different options for obtaining food, and one of their favorites methods just so happens to be finding a good fishing spot and settling in. I guess that’s one thing us humans and bears have in common? What is interesting about a bear’s ability to fish is that they’re actually quite skilled at the practice, and they rarely throw the fish back after they get a hold of them. Their usual way of going about things is to catch-and-immediately-eat method, like the bear in this video does.
But before the brown bear got to fishing, it first had to saunter by a photographer by the name of Chris Bray. He describes himself as an Australian Geographic photographer, and often gives luxury photography tours. To pull people in, Bray shares his work through social media, and this video of a brown bear in Alaska is getting a lot of attention.
In the clip, the big ol’ bruin comes slowly walking towards Bray. The photographer stays put and keeps the camera rolling as the large animal nonchalantly treks by and towards the nearby river. The good news for Chris Bray is that the brown bear was on the hunt for some food, and wildlife photographer wasn’t on the menu. Instead, the brown bear opted for some salmon. And it was either an expert in catching fish, or incredibly lucky, because the bruin made the task of fishing look easy. Within seconds of walking into the water, the bear was chowing down on some fresh salmon.
No background music on the video was a nice touch. When you come across footage like this, it can often be ruined by some sort of instrumental track. This one below shines a spotlight on the soundtrack of nature, and it’s a truly beautiful thing:
A truly impressive catch – both by the bear and the photographer.
Was the wildlife photographer probably a little too close for comfort? You bet. The National Park Service typically recommends a buffer zone of about 100 yards between people and bears, no matter how experienced you might be (I’d guess this guy spends a whole lot of time out in the wilderness). But the truth is, these coastal browns are so well-fed, fat and happy on salmon, that they generally are much more mild-mannered compared to grizzlies inland… and they’re usually bigger too. This allows photographers, tour guides and hikers to get much closer than you’d ever expect.
Fortunately, the brown bear wasn’t interested in messing with any wildlife photographers that day. It was preoccupied with catching a fish in the most casual way possible.
Check out more of Bray’s work while you’re here, and give him a follow… it’s awesome stuff:
