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55 images of an Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear Golden Female teaching her cubs to fish
at Silver Salmon Creek in Lake Clark National Park, including action shots, portraits and
interaction between the mother and cubs, plus some cute behavioral shots of one cub.
Click an image to open a larger version.
Use your back button to return to this page.
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Alaskan Coastal Brown Bears
Golden Female and Cubs
Coastal Brown Bears Fishing
Assorted Coastal Brown Bears
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Yellowstone Black Bears
Black Bears: Adults and Cubs
Black and Cinnamon Adults and Cubs
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Animals Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear (382 images)
Golden Female and Cubs Brown Bear Fishing
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Yellowstone Bears (200 images)
Black Bear Black Bear Cubs Brown Bear
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3075
A golden female Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear gazes into the setting sun before
beginning her fishing run at Silver Salmon Creek in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3076
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3077
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The golden female pauses to look at the photographer, then turns to check her cubs.
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3080
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3081
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Once she sees that her cubs are watching, she takes off after a salmon.
Brown Bear Golden Female Fishing X3089
A golden female Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear chases salmon
at Silver Salmon Creek in the beautiful light of a summer sunset.
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.
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Brown Bear Golden Female Fishing X3086
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Brown Bear Golden Female Fishing X3092
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Brown Bear Golden Female Fishing X3094
A golden female Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear chasing Salmon in Silver Salmon Creek.
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).
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Brown Bear Golden Female Fishing X3095
A golden female Coastal Brown Bear gazes into the setting sun at Silver Salmon Creek.
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.
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Air Madura DeHavilland Beaver X4221
The only way into the area is by boat or plane, so we piled our gear and ourselves into this Air Madura DeHavilland Beaver DHC-2 STOL bush plane for the flight, which culminated in a hair-raising ‘short-field’ landing in a tiny lily pond.
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Silver Salmon Creek Lodge HS2826
Silver Salmon Creek Lodge was base of operations while we were visiting in the Lake Clark National Park area. It operates from a home, offering meals, guide services, computers, and rooms for 12 people.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Animals Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear (382 images)
Golden Female and Cubs Brown Bear Fishing
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Yellowstone Bears (200 images)
Black Bear Black Bear Cubs Brown Bear
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Brown Bear Golden Female Fishing X3103
A golden female Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear at sunset alongside Silver Salmon Creek.
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Brown Bear Golden Female Fishing X3107
The golden female Coastal Brown Bear leads her cubs to a good fishing spot...
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Brown Bear Cub at Sunset X3099
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Brown Bear Cub at Sunset X3134
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... while the cubs follow close behind. Brown Bear cubs are born in the den in January and February.
Twins are most common, but litters range from one to four. The cubs emerge from the den in June and
are constantly supervised by their mothers, who are fiercely protective of cubs. Do not get between them.
Brown Bear Golden Female Fishing X3131
A golden female Coastal Brown Bear splashes through the muddy shallows of Silver Salmon Creek...
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Brown Bear Cub at Sunset X3139
... while the cubs follow Mom’s lead on their way to a prized fishing spot.
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Brown Bear Cub at Sunset X3141
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Brown Bear Cub at Sunset X3143
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The cub on the left above is the adventurous cub, and the cub on the right is the timid cub.
They had distinctively different characters, and the adventurous cub was much more active.
Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3149
The golden female Coastal Brown Bear leads the adventurous cub into Silver Salmon Creek to
show it her fishing technique. She is focused intently on a Salmon swimming below the surface.
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.
In some southern areas of Alaska with milder climate (such as on Kodiak Archipelago 200 miles
further south, just east of the Katmai Peninsula), Brown Bears can remain active all winter. The
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.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Animals Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear (382 images)
Golden Female and Cubs Brown Bear Fishing
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Yellowstone Bears (200 images)
Black Bear Black Bear Cubs Brown Bear
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3153
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3157
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The golden female pauses mid-stream to wait for her cub to join her...
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3159
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3163
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... when the cub catches up, she leads him to a spit across the creek and tells him to wait and watch.
Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3167
She then quickly chases a Salmon running in the creek. The depression at far left is the Salmon.
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3168
The golden female Coastal Brown Bear runs closely behind a fleeing Salmon
while teaching her cubs fishing techniques in Silver Salmon Creek at sunset.
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3169
As she gets closer, she focuses intensely on the Salmon just below the surface.
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3175
The look on the female’s face is priceless, as she seems to ask the photographer: “Where did it go?”
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Animals Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear (382 images)
Golden Female and Cubs Brown Bear Fishing
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Yellowstone Bears (200 images)
Black Bear Black Bear Cubs Brown Bear
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Meanwhile, back at the spit, the adventurous cub (supposedly watching Mom) finds other things to do.
Brown Bear Cub Stretching X3176
The cub stretches, practicing the difficult ‘Pasasana’ (the twisting pose in Bear Yoga).
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Brown Bear Cub Secrets X3177
He whispers secrets to his brother, the timid cub, faithfully watching Mom from across the creek...
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Brown Bear Cub Playing with Stick X3178
... and then he tests the tensile strength of a piece of wood.
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Brown Bear Cub Playing with Stick X3179
The adventurous cub watches the tip fly away as his piece of wood breaks.
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Brown Bear Cub Activities XXL
A 1600 x 1099 version of the XXL Composite (4934 x 3390)
showing the adventurous cub doing Yoga, whispering secrets,
and playing with a stick instead of watching Mom teach fishing.
This preview was resized down directly from the XXL Composite,
so the Title Bar text is smaller than the other preview composites.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Animals Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear (382 images)
Golden Female and Cubs Brown Bear Fishing
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Yellowstone Bears (200 images)
Black Bear Black Bear Cubs Brown Bear
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Brown Bear Cub Watching Mom X3180
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3184
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The timid cub sits on the bank, watching the golden female teach fishing technique. Mom joins him
while waiting for the adventurous cub to finish testing the tensile strength of his stick and join them.
Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3185
Once the adventurous cub arrives, the golden female descends the bank to teach her cubs to fish.
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3187
The golden female Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear standing at the edge of Silver Salmon Creek.
First, she looks across the creek while her cubs watch from the edge of the bank above...
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3189
She checks for fish downstream... and then upstream.
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3191
Always look both ways before crossing the stream.
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3192
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Brown Bear Cub Looking for Fish X3194
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She sees a fish passing by and dives in after it. The adventurous cub then comes down to look for fish.
Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3195
See? That is how you do it. Now stand here and watch this time...
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3196
The golden female Coastal Brown Bear heads back into the creek to teach her cubs to fish.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Animals Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear (382 images)
Golden Female and Cubs Brown Bear Fishing
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Yellowstone Bears (200 images)
Black Bear Black Bear Cubs Brown Bear
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3197
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3199
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Unfortunately, while she did show the cubs all of her best tricks, she was unable to catch a fish, so...
Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3200
... with a satisfied look on her face, the golden female crosses Silver Salmon Creek into
the setting sun to return to her cubs and move them on to a new spot further upstream.
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3201
The golden female crosses Silver Salmon Creek at sunset after teaching her cubs to fish.
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3202
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3203
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3205
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3206
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Image 3205 (above left) is available as a 5:4 aspect ratio XL and as a 3:2 in SXL.
A preview of the 5:4 ratio image is on the Portrait-Playing page (click for direct link).
Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3208 M
The golden female Coastal Brown Bear sticks her tongue out at the photographer as she crosses
Silver Salmon Creek at sunset. This image is available in both 5:4 and 3:2 aspect ratios in SXL size.
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.
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3210
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3212
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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3213 M
The golden female Coastal Brown Bear gazes into the setting sun as she reaches the bank.
Visit the Golden Female and Cubs: Portraits and Playing page (link below) for more images.
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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs SXXXL
A 1500 x 1321 version of the SXXXL Composite (12015 x 10150)
showing a Golden Female Coastal Brown Bear teaching her cubs to fish.
A composite of this size can make a very large print (5 feet x 4 feet on matte).
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Animals Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear (382 images)
Golden Female and Cubs Brown Bear Fishing
Assorted Brown Bear Brown Bear Composites
Yellowstone Bears (200 images)
Black Bear Black Bear Cubs Brown Bear
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Golden Female and Cubs: Portraits and Playing page.
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Coastal Brown Bears Fishing subsection.
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Assorted Coastal Brown Bears subsection.
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Alaskan Wildlife section.
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Yellowstone Black Bears subsection.
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