Per the National Park Service, “Fat Bear Week – an annual celebration of success. All bears are winners but only one true champion will emerge. Held over the course of seven days and concluding on the Fat Bear Tuesday, people chose which bear to crown in this tournament style bracket where bears are pitted against each other for your vote…”
Well, if this didn’t happen —
— then maybe the bears just woke up this spring from an extended nap and started to stroll around Katmai National Park.
The salmon are starting to run but it’s still June and a little bear-en out there (no apologies 🙂).
July is the best time to spot bears and other Alaskan wildlife at —
The river views:
Brooks Falls:
Or the Riffles:
Let’s be fair and include the fish POV, too:
Update, August 15, 2024
Otis’s Katmai Bearcam Wiki page. ♥️
Update, July 8, 2024: This morning, I found Explore.org’s bear fan page, which has oodles of information on each bear, compiled by people who follow them very closely on cam and in the field.
I was curious to see if the most famous bear had shown up yet: Otis, a/k/a Bear 480.
As of today, apparently, this elderly ursid has not yet been sighted, but last year he didn’t arrive until July 26th so there is still time.
It’s going to break a lot of hearts when Otis no longer comes to fish — his Facebook public page has more than five thousand followers, while over six thousand follow the private group.
The Explore people also have a three-and-a-half-hour 2023 season highlights video up, too!
More information
- National Park Service: Brooks Falls page
- Wikipedia: Brooks Falls
- National Park Service page on site visitor facilities
- Bears on the IUCN Red List
- Myths about bears, dispelled
Featured image: David Kiely/Shutterstock
Flight To Wonder 