 Brown bear watching & wildlife tours on the coast of Katmai National Park, Alaska
Site created & maintained by Net Alaska Web Services Homer, Alaska
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Brown bear watching & wildlife tours on the coast of Katmai National Park, Alaska
Site created & maintained by Net Alaska Web Services Homer, Alaska
|
We
board a research vessel, the MV Waters, which will be home for the
next 7 days. Katmai Coastal Bear Tours, which is owned and operated by
John Rogers, offers first class hospitality. Along with his entourage
of fine on board chefs, skiff operators and world class bear guides.
John presents an adventure to clients ranging from Discovery Channel
film crews to retired folks traveling the world. Wasting no time after
introductions our bear guide Buck Wilde, a man who quite literally
holds the spirit of the bear and its world deep within his soul, is eager
to venture us into bear country. It is important to understand the
choices that you make in life, for only you can be responsible for the
consequence. It has been a long time dream of mine to be at one with
nature. I felt, no, I trusted that my vision to approach nature on its
terms had to be possible. That with respect, common sense, caution and
research entering bear country would be a choice that on some level
would effect the rest of my life.
On
a shore not too far off the bow of the Waters, an adolescent male bear
tosses large flat rocks aside as if they were made of styrofoam.
Underneath are mouth loads of Blennies, a small 4-5 inch long fish
that can be found caught in tidal pools. All at once as if from
nowhere, I am in bear habitat. I am learning of an ecosystem that
sustains these coastal bears. No different a brown than the Kodiak or
Grizzly. In fact no different a species than a Polar Bear, just a bear
that has taken a different path and developed a behavior to set it
aside from other bears to become known as a Coastal Brown Bear. The
skiff, a small boat designed to do shore runs from a larger ship,
takes us further on across the bay. We approach eaglets perched in a
nest atop a weathered sea stack; their heads tilt and bob as we
approach around their sentinel view. The sea stack marks as entrance
to a quiet cove worlds away from life as we know so well. It seems a
courtship of bears has gone awry, and that the female has nestled
herself amongst a bush surrounded by daisies out on a cliff far from
the reach of a pursuant male. Buck and I set up our tripods and wait
to photograph moments of graceful beauty as the brown bear lifts its
head to check the breeze for troubled scent. Tidal waters are rising
we are forced ashore where time has sent the male to feed on sedge
grass, but gazing upward occasionally as if he was waiting for his
female to have a change of heart. We photograph the male brown bear
and he grants us permission to come in close. For the first time in my
life, I am standing in the presence of a great predator. The ambient
light filters through his powerful profile, highlighting the
prominence with which he carries himself. The tell tale hump that
forms at the shoulders made of muscle from years of flipping rocks and
digging clams. His massive head weaving in the sedge grass as he
forages for the protein that will carry him through winter. And last,
his cautious gaze as he affirms our position relative to his plan for
moving on, and it was over. In a bears environment you must give into
the fact that only by the decisions that you make can you help to
create a safe bear encounter. A bear's life thrives on instinct,
gestures and intent. Along with his enhanced senses of smell and
hearing, a bear is constantly making decisions that are best for him.
Your choices have to be best for the bear also. We waded on through
the drowning rice grasses around the point that embraced the cove, to
the opposite side of the sea stack that held the two eaglets. Rather
large at this time of year, it will not be long before they drop on to
a current and take their majestic qualities to flight. Today however
holds a challenge as a curious adolescent brown bear scales the
seaward side of their rock perch entering onto the nest. The eaglets
in all their innocence and beauty remain stationary with restless
hisses toward threatening danger. The giant bear eases his head well
within striking distance. The moment is still as everyone holds their
ground, in another classic moment as two species encounter one another
the curious brown bear moves on. Truly amazing visions of Alaska's
grandeur flow through my head. The skiff ride back to the MV Waters is
like a dream, the evening last forever and sleep comes late as
thoughts of coastal bears graze through my head.... 
It is a well-known fact that this location holds the highest
concentration of brown bears anywhere in the world. As beautiful as
this sounds it is equally as sad to know that this sanctuary is one of
the last untouched frontiers for the bears. Even in this protected
habitat poaching still occurs. It is a known fact that bears have a
low reproduction rate, and that the survival rate of even 3 year old
bears (which is the age that mothers send their offspring out on their
own) is very low. Coupled with occurrences in nature, such as last
years warm rainy winter. You can see the need to take on roles toward
conservation. Conservation does not necessarily have to be in the form
of money, nor does it have to overtake your daily life with hours
invested in fighting causes. Conservation can come by adopting true
insights towards nature, and help to dispel horrifying myths that have
been tagged to animals such as Wolves and Bears. Simply, conservation
can spread word of mouth from old to young. A walk amongst the bears
has changed my life. Now, I will walk amongst the world an advocate
for their protection........