Washing Up before Dinner

Photograph by Michael Shoemake

It's interesting to watch the methods that different Grizzly Bears have for catching salmon. There was Standing Bear to get a better look for the fish, Diving Bear that jumped of the bank hoping to land on an unsuspecting fish, Snorkeling Bear who went underwater looking for dinner and this bear, Splashing Bear hoping to spook a fish up into his mouth.
It didn't seem to work.

The bears were totally not interested in us photographers but were definitely focused on the multitude of salmon below the water. If there were several bears close to each other they seemed more interested in what the other bears were doing. Several times a bear had an easy catch but suddenly abandoned it to go chase another bear to try and steal his fish.

This photo was taken in Geographic Harbor, Kati National Park, Alaska

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