Alaska 11: Below the Katmai Falls

Not all of the action occurs on top of the falls. If you looked closely at the first image in our last post you would have noticed a large grizzly sitting in a pool just below the falls near the outer bank. Here he is above just after consuming a salmon he caught in the waters below the falls. The gull was a constant companion, sharing no doubt in the bear's catch.

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Here he is again just after securing a fish. This angle gives you a hint of just how big he was.

He pretty much owned this spot while we were there, getting up just once to check around above the falls when a particularly tall and corpulent male walked across the falls. That bear took up residence at the top of the falls enabling this bear to return to his "spot."

As you can see above in an image taken just a few yards downstream from the falls, he was challenged once. After a short sizing up that looked frightful from time to time, he held his ground and returned to his spot. While there were growls and open jaws, nobody lifted a paw during the entire ritual.

A few of the younger bears worked the area below the falls. One, in particular, would search for a likely target from above water and then dive after his intended lunch.

We never saw this approach succeed. A lot of head shaking followed each dive and after a bit the activity evolved into play.

I'm not sure what was going on here, about 50 yards downstream from the falls. The bears seemed to be enjoying themselves and now blows were exchanged. Just before this shot, both were standing. If you look closely you can see how abundant the red salmon still were.

One last image to close out this entry. A mother and first year cub are together near the opposite bank. Mom watches as the cub consumes a salmon.

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