Brown Bear Antics at Pavlov, Alaska

  After four hours of waiting in front of the salmon river at Pavlov our patience was rewarded with the emergence of four brown bears all at once. A mother with two very big cubs came out near the river mouth at just about the same time that a lone female appeared from behind the falls. They all made their way to the shallow area of the stream just below the falls to look for their favorite snack, salmon.

   Pink salmon were on the menu today, although there didn't seem to be quite as many as I remembered from years past. But there were still enough and quickly both the family and the lone bear were chowing down on fresh salmon sushi. It looked like the cubs were very well fed and probably just about that age where they head off on their own, although they certainly enjoyed being together for the time being. They would rush in and grab parts of the salmon whenever the mom would catch one. A few times she swatted them away but they held their own pretty well.

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  In the interim the cubs would wrestle and play-fight with each other, much to the amusement of myself. The tumbling waterfall provided a magical background to capture some of the cubs' antics. We stayed with them for about an hour, after which the solo bear was still chomping away just under the falls and the family slowly wondered off into the forest. It is always a magical experience being in the same area as they powerful animals, but to see them from a kayak was a treat indeed. The picture below is of the only two guests that stuck it out till the end with me and they were rewarded with this close encounter as the cubs walked by them towards the falls.

  Here the mom puts on a fish catching demonstration for the cubs. It kind of makes me hungry for some wild caught salmon.

Check out more great posts about my bear encounters in Alaska here: Bear Posts and Photography