Results 1 to 18 of 18

Thread: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Alaska
    Posts
    7,604
    Real Name
    Dan

    Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    During our boating trips on Prince William Sound we often see black bears. Typically we are trying to avoid them in search of safe places to hike/walk the dog. On our most recent trip we were sans dog so I took the opportunity to give the black bears a little photo love. It was fog/misty rain most of the time. Following are my efforts. We saw over 20 separate animals. These are the six that I was able to get reasonable shots.

    All shot with Nikon D500 and Nikkor 200-500mm f5.6

    All posted at 1200 px wide so check them out in the light box.

    1) Check out the salmon eggs coming out of the fish. After the bears eat a few fish they will continue feeding and only eat the roe. Brown bear also eat the skin which contains all the fat. Interestingly all the blackies that we watched only ate the roe and didn't bother with the skin. So much for the efficiency of nature.

    Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    2) This was a massive bear(as blacks go), presumably a male. Black bears don't share space like brownies will do when feeding on a salmon stream. We saw several other bears attempt to enter the feeding area while this guy was there and they all left at a run after taking one look at this guy.

    Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    3) This is one of the smaller bears that was hanging about waiting for the big boy to finish eating. This one came out of the woods quite close to where we were sitting in our kayak in ankle deep water.

    Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    4) This guy/gal was on a different creek a couple hundred meters away. Another subordinate bear that was feeding around the perimeter of the main feed area.

    Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    5) Different day, different bay, no rain. Late in the evening we saw a very large bear feeding on a small creek that ran out of a small canyon. I returned early next morning and found this little guy. A very small bear likely in its first year away from its mom.

    Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    6) I watched/shot the above little guy for 15 minutes or so when it left the creek in an apparent hurry. The reason became apparent when this larger(though not really big) bear walked silently out of the woods above the stream. This was an occasion when the zoom came in handy. This was shot at 200mm. Look at the ears on this guy.

    Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

  2. #2

    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    northern Virginia suburb of Washington, DC
    Posts
    19,064

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Wonderful series, Dan! I especially like everything about the last one: light, diagonal tree limb, separation of the greenery and rock formations by the tree, and the detail and pose of the bear.

  3. #3
    Moderator Donald's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Glenfarg, Scotland
    Posts
    21,402
    Real Name
    Just add 'MacKenzie'

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Buckley View Post
    I especially like everything about the last one: light, diagonal tree limb, separation of the greenery and rock formations by the tree, and the detail and pose of the bear.
    I agree.

    An educational thread. Discovering aspects of the Black Bear behaviour that I didn't know about. Thanks for that.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    North West of England
    Posts
    7,178
    Real Name
    John

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Excellent series and I agree with all of the above. As studies, 2,3 and 6 stand out for me. Nice work.

  5. #5
    Shadowman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    36,716
    Real Name
    John

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Nice series.

  6. #6
    Ziggy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    3,242
    Real Name
    Jim

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Enjoyed viewing Dan.

  7. #7
    hnikesch's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Michigan, USA
    Posts
    21
    Real Name
    Hans

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Great series Dan

  8. #8
    ST1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    North Yorkshire
    Posts
    1,990
    Real Name
    Peter

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Wonderful series, well captured Dan


    Sent from somewhere in Gods County using Tapatalk

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Philippines
    Posts
    12,181
    Real Name
    Brian

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    amazing

  10. #10
    Wavelength's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Kerala, India
    Posts
    13,862
    Real Name
    Nandakumar

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    A great tour through these images....

  11. #11
    rpcrowe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Southern California, USA
    Posts
    17,402
    Real Name
    Richard

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Wonderful captures (no pun intended)...

  12. #12

    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    289
    Real Name
    Jim

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    beautiful captures of remarkable beasts. Makes our black bears look like pussycats.

  13. #13
    Moderator Donald's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Glenfarg, Scotland
    Posts
    21,402
    Real Name
    Just add 'MacKenzie'

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Quote Originally Posted by Jimr1961 View Post
    beautiful captures of remarkable beasts. Makes our black bears look like pussycats.
    That was a questions I had - Are these a different species of bear than the black bear of the Sierra Nevada.

  14. #14

    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    289
    Real Name
    Jim

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Absolutely! At least a different sub-species. Ours are smaller and much more timid.

  15. #15

    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Turkey
    Posts
    12,779
    Real Name
    Binnur

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Very nice series Dan, thanks for sharing

  16. #16
    lovelife65's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Olympia, WA
    Posts
    1,953
    Real Name
    Sharon

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Great photos! Glad they didn't charge and eat YOU . (Do you carry bear spray?)

  17. #17

    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Alaska
    Posts
    7,604
    Real Name
    Dan

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Sorry I'm so slow responding to everyone's kind comments. The day after posting this I headed back out on the boat for three days with a couple of friends. Just returned this afternoon.

    Mike, I totally agree. Photographically that last shot was the best of this lot and of the entire trip. Lovely setting but a more photogenic bear would have been nice.

    Donald, I don't know whether our bears are considered separate species/sub-species. The scientists do seem to have a propensity in recent years to begin to label localized populations as sub-species. I do know that historically in both hunting and scientific records all North American black bear were lumped together as one species. Interestingly the largest recorded black bear are found in coastal North Carolina. It seems that in the warmer climate the bears don't hibernate and the extra months of feeding each year result in higher growth rates. Can you imagine ?

    Sharon, I do carry bear spray. Though statistics on historical man/bear encounters suggest that pepper spray is not as effective on black bears as it is on browns. Up until a couple of years ago I always carried a shotgun and am considering reverting to that method of protection. Two people in Alaska have been killed by black bears this year. One of the victims was a young man competing in an organized/sponsored cross country running event.

  18. #18
    IzzieK's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Chesterfield, Missouri/Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    17,827
    Real Name
    Izzie

    Re: Bears 2017; Prince William Sound

    Excellent job, Dan...

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •