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56 images of Coastal Brown Bears fishing for Salmon at Silver Salmon Creek in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
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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 Fishing HS2889
A male Coastal Brown Bear takes off after a fish at Silver Salmon Creek in Lake Clark National Park.
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2891
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2892
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In image 2891 (above left), you can see the salmon as a lighter bump in the water ahead of the bear, and in 2892 as a bump in the water with a small roostertail splashed by the frantic movement of its tail.
Brown Bear Fishing HS2893
An Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear chases closely behind a fish in Silver Salmon Creek at mid-day.
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 Fishing HS2895
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2896
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The bear nearly catches the fish, which makes a rapid change of direction directly towards the camera. In image 2896 (above right) you can see the salmon just below the surface, directly under the bear’s nose.
Brown Bear Fishing HS2897
The rapidly moving Brown Bear puts on the brakes while keeping his attention firmly fixed on the fish.
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2898
The bear makes the turn, losing only a few feet, and gets right back into the chase. The salmon realizes that it is again in trouble, and makes another direction change, cutting first to our left and then to our right, with the bear gaining ground right behind.
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2901
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2902
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This was really a pretty smart salmon, as far as you can say that about a fish. It took the bear into a deeper section of Silver Salmon Creek, where the water resistance slowed down the bear a bit.
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 Fishing HS2903
The Coastal Brown Bear digs in to gain ground on the salmon, who opened up an eight foot gap.
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2905
The bear begins to catch up to the salmon again as they get into shallower water. In the image above, you can see the water disturbed by the tail of the fish at right.
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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 Fishing HS2916
The fish makes another turn as it heads downstream, but the bear is getting even closer as the water is now fairly shallow. The gap is now four feet (the salmon is at the right edge of the frame).
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2917
The bear pours on the speed as he hits the shallows. The fish is just out of frame at right. A few more quick steps and the bear had the fish trapped in the shallows near the bank.
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Brown Bear Catching Salmon HS2927
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Brown Bear Catching Salmon HS2928
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The Brown Bear pounces on the fish, trapping it against the rocks, and the struggle is soon over.
Brown Bear Eating Salmon HS2934
The bear settles in to eat his prize and another spawning salmon bites the dust.
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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Brown Bear Fishing Silver Salmon Creek XXXL
A 1600 x 1024 version of the XXXL Composite (10520 x 6380) showing a Brown Bear catching fish in the early afternoon at Silver Salmon Creek.
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2939
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2941
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A thoroughly satisfied Coastal Brown Bear splashes back into Silver Salmon Creek after eating a freshly caught salmon and begins to look downstream for its next victim.
Brown Bear Fishing HS2947 M
A male Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear looking for salmon in Silver Salmon Creek.
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 Fishing HS2949
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2951
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2952
The salmon seem to have left the area, so the bear heads upstream to find a new spot.
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.
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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 Fishing HS2963
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Brown Bear Fishing HS2968
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The bear reaches another favorite fishing spot, but cannot see any fish, so he stands to get a better view.
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Brown Bear Standing HS2971
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Brown Bear Standing HS2972
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Brown Bear Standing HS2974
An Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear searches for sign of salmon. A large bear standing at close range is an exciting sight.
At right is a 1000 x 1600 image of a Brown Bear standing in Silver Salmon Creek, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
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Brown Bear Standing HS2978 M
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Brown Bear Fishing HS3040 M
The young female Coastal Brown Bear spots a fish in Silver Salmon Creek, and moves into deeper water.
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Brown Bear Fishing HS3041
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Brown Bear Fishing HS3042
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The bear pounces, but misses her fish. This bear was quite a character, as you will see in the following images.
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Brown Bear Standing HS3046 M
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Brown Bear Standing HS3048
The young female lost sight of her prey and stands to try to catch sight of it under the reflective waters of Silver Salmon Creek at mid-afternoon. At left is a 1000 x 1600 pixel image of the female Brown Bear standing in Silver Salmon Creek.
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Brown Bear Sheepish Look HS3050 M
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Brown Bear with Leaf HS3054
At left, the embarrassed bear realizes she has lost her fish. As a consolation prize, she catches a leaf which was drifting by.
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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 Fishing HS3055
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Brown Bear Fishing HS3063
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The young female Coastal Brown Bear continues into deeper water in the creek, looking for fish.
Brown Bear Fishing HS3066
“You didn’t see a fish swimming by here, did you?”
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Brown Bear Shakeoff HS3071
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Brown Bear Shakeoff HS3074
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The bear shakes off after her excursion into deeper water, preparing to stand again.
Brown Bear Shakeoff HS3078
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Brown Bear Fishing HS3083
After shaking off, she moves into shallower water... then stands to search for salmon.
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Brown Bear Standing HS3085 M
A 1000 x 1600 close portrait of a young female Coastal Brown Bear standing in Silver Salmon Creek.
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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 Fishing at Dusk X3602
An Coastal Brown Bear fishing at dusk (10 PM), in the mouth of Silver Salmon Creek at Cook Inlet.
Southern Alaska is quite close to the Arctic Circle, where the sun remains in the sky in the summer months. Dusk occurs late at night in the summer and twilight occurs at midnight, as the sun is only about 6-7 degrees below the horizon in the summer, causing a phenomenon known as “White Nights” (no need for artificial light).
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Brown Bear Fishing at Dusk X3604
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Brown Bear Fishing at Dusk X3607
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The light is still fairly low for action photography, so I ended up shooting these images with a 300mm lens wide open at f/2.8 to gather enough light and still keep the ISO low to reduce noise level and maintain detail.
Brown Bear Fishing at Dusk X3612
An Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear fishing at dusk in the mouth of Silver Salmon Creek at Cook Inlet.
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Brown Bear Fishing at Dusk X3618
The bear does not find any fish, but keeps looking for a while in case some spawning Salmon arrive.
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Brown Bear Fishing at Dusk X3620
Nothing seems to be happening... so the bear decides to move off to a more active fishing area.
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Brown Bear Fishing at Dusk X3621
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Brown Bear Fishing at Dusk X3622
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Brown Bear Fishing at Dusk X3625 M
An Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear fishing at dusk in the mouth of Silver Salmon Creek at Cook Inlet.
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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 Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear Fishing 2 page.
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Brown Bear: Golden Female and Cubs subsection.
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Assorted Alaskan 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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