Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear: Sunrise and Sunset

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites

Brown Bear at Sunrise HS2278

A Coastal Brown Bear in the sedge grass at sunrise near Silver Salmon Creek.

Brown Bear at Sunrise HS2283

A Brown Bear skirts the edge of Silver Salmon Creek at sunrise.

Silver Salmon Creek is in Lake Clark National Park, at the bottom of the Alaska Peninsula in
southwestern Alaska, on the west side of Cook Inlet between Chinitna Bay and Tuxedni Bay.
Located 100 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska, it is accessible only by boat or float plane.

Brown Bear at Sunrise HS2295

Brown Bear at Sunrise HS2296

A Coastal Brown Bear crosses the mud flats at Silver Salmon Creek just after sunrise.

Brown Bear at Sunrise X2910c M

Brown Bear at Sunrise X2913c M

A Coastal Brown Bear poses in the sedge grass in the golden light of sunrise.

All of the landscape (horizontal) large version images linked from the thumbnails are 1500 pixels wide.
Portrait (vertical) images are 1200 pixels tall (1290 pixels with title bar). Images designated with an “M”
in the shot number are 5:4 aspect ratio, 1500 x 1290 with a title bar, or 1500 x 1200 without the title bar.

Brown Bear at Sunrise X2921 M

Brown Bear at Sunrise X2922 M

An Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear looks for fish in Silver Salmon Creek from the sedge grass at sunrise.

Brown Bear at Sunrise X2925

The Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear lives in the coastal areas, as the name suggests.
The southern coast of Alaska has seasonal spawning runs of the five Pacific Salmon,
as well as a milder climate and a rich array of vegetation that allows the bears to grow
larger and live in denser populations than their inland cousins the Grizzly Bear, which
are otherwise classified as the same species. The Brown Bear ranges in color from
a dark brown through a light blond, and has a noticeable hump atop the shoulders.

Brown Bear at Sunrise X2930

An Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear in the sedge grass, backlit by the golden light at sunrise.

Brown Bear at Sunrise X2931

A Coastal Brown Bear wades across Silver Salmon Creek, looking for fish at sunrise.

Brown Bears are one of the most omnivorous of animals, and tend to consume a wide variety of foods.
They eat a variety of plants including berries, sedge grass, flowers, nuts, pine cones, roots and shoots.
Bears also eat winter-provided carrion, insects and grubs, birds and eggs, rodents, clams and crabs,
but Coastal Brown Bears feed mostly on Salmon during the five salmon spawning runs, deriving most
of their nutrition from the fish and eggs. The nutritious diet and the abundance of fish in the area make
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bears larger than their inland Grizzly cousins (males are larger than females).

Brown Bear at Sunrise X2932

A Coastal Brown Bear looks for fish from the edge of Silver Salmon Creek at sunrise.

Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites

Brown Bear at Sunrise X3644

A 1200 pound male Brown Bear yawns as he crosses the mud flats in low-angle reddish-gold light at sunrise.

Brown Bear Old Scarred Male X3657

An old, scarred male Brown Bear in the shallows of Silver Salmon Creek in mid-morning light.

This bear was very likely scarred during a territorial fight with the large male in the previous image.

Brown Bear Old Scarred Male X3675

Brown Bear Old Scarred Male X3676

The Salmon runs in Silver Salmon Creek attract a number of bears, and the normally solitary nature
of the Brown Bear changes due to the abundance of fish. The bears tend to tolerate other bears and
even humans in the area, although when one bear is fishing in a particular stretch of the creek, others
will avoid the area. When a large male arrives, other bears tend to rapidly scatter and leave it to him.

Brown Bear Old Scarred Male X3679

Brown Bear Old Scarred Male X3680

Dozens of bears gather at Chinitna Bay and at Silver Salmon Creek when spawning salmon are running.
Large males sometimes fight for dominance over favored fishing locations. Note the scar over the left eye.

Brown Bear on Bank X2860

Brown Bear in Sedge Grass X2861

The dominant bear in the region arrives at Silver Salmon Creek to look for fish at sunset.

Brown Bear in Sedge Grass X2862

An enormous 1200 pound boar in the sedge grass at sunset.

Male Alaskan Coastal Brown Bears are significantly larger than females,
generally weighing 30% or more heavier than a typical sow, but the largest
boars can easily reach double the size of the average female. The weight
of an average female Coastal Brown Bear ranges from 400-700 pounds,
the average male Coastal Brown Bear ranges from 600-1400 pounds.

Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites

Brown Bear Crossing Creek X2863 M

Brown Bear Crossing Creek X2864 M

A 1200 pound Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear arrives at Silver Salmon Creek at sunset.

Brown Bear Crossing Creek X2866

The enormous boar stands at the edge of the creek, looking for spawning salmon.

Brown Bear Crossing Creek X2867 M

The dominant local male Coastal Brown Bear crosses Silver Salmon Creek at sunset.

Brown Bear Crossing Creek X2868 M

Note the deadly six inch claws on this spectacular apex predator.

The Coastal Brown Bears grow larger than their inland Grizzly cousins
due to the higher protein intake in their Salmon-rich diet. The largest of the
Coastal Brown Bears are found on the Kodiak Archipelago, which is 200 miles
further south, due to the milder climate which allows the bears to be active all winter.

Kodiak Bears have been isolated from other species of brown bear since the last Ice Age,
and are the largest subspecies of Brown Bear. Larger males can exceed 1500 pounds.

Brown Bear Crossing Creek X2869 M

The 1200 pound Brown Bear approaches the photographer.

Brown Bear Crossing Creek X2871

Note that the bear keeps his attention on the creek, looking for signs of spawning salmon.
I was relieved that other than a quick glance, this huge bear paid very little attention to me.

Brown Bear Crossing Creek X2873

These 500mm images look closer than they actually were... this boar was about 50 feet away.

Brown Bear on Bank X2879

This image of the 1200 pound male Coastal Brown Bear was taken at 300mm from 30 feet.

Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites

Brown Bear in Sedge Grass HS2266

A close shot of the 1200 pound male Brown Bear in the sedge grass, taken from 15 feet at 200mm.

Brown Bear in Sedge Grass HS2268

Brown Bear in Sedge Grass HS2269

More closeups of this enormous Coastal Brown Bear in the sedge grass. He was quite used to
my presence at this point, but I was doing my best not to move more than absolutely necessary.
Having a 1200 pound bear walk close enough to you to be able to smell him is disconcerting.

Brown Bear in Sedge Grass HS2271

The dominant male Coastal Brown Bear raises his head to look over the sedge grass to see
if spawning salmon are running at Silver Salmon Creek before moving to another area at sunset.

Bears eat a lot of salmon during spawning runs, as they need to double their weight to allow them
to survive the winter in their den. While in the den, they do not hibernate, but their body temperature,
heart rate, and metabolic rate drops, and they do not eat, drink, urinate or defecate. They must build
up a vast store of body fat to survive while they sleep the time away during the long Alaskan winter.

Brown Bear in Sedge Grass HS2274

Brown Bear in Sedge Grass HS2275

Brown Bear in Sedge Grass HS2277

The dominant male Brown Bear at Silver Salmon Creek, moving through the sedge grass at sunset.

Brown Bear in Sedge Grass X2883 M

Brown Bear Crossing Creek X2884 M

The 1200 pound bear moves down to the creek and crosses towards his favorite fishing spot at sunset.

Brown Bear Crossing Creek X2886

A close portrait of a 1200 pound Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear crossing Silver Salmon Creek at sunset.

Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites

Brown Bear Male Standing at Sunset X2888

Brown Bear Male Standing at Sunset X2889

The 1200 pound boar stands in the reddish-gold low-angle light at sunset to search for spawning salmon.

Brown Bear Male Standing at Sunset X2890 M

A 1200 pound male Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear, standing at sunset in Silver Salmon Creek.

Brown Bear Male at Sunset X2893

A huge male Coastal Brown Bear looks down Silver Salmon Creek for spawning salmon at sunset.

Brown Bear Male at Sunset X2897

Brown Bear Male at Sunset X2898

Deciding that there are no fish, the male moves onto the mud flats to find a new spot downstream.

Brown Bear Male at Sunset X2899

A 1200 pound male Coastal Brown Bear on the mud flats alongside Silver Salmon Creek at sunset.

Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3205 M

A golden female Coastal Brown Bear wading in Silver Salmon Creek at sunset.

The Alaskan Brown Bear: Golden Female and Cubs subsection is devoted to this golden sow.

Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):