Which Viewing Site

Fox at Katmai

(c) 2002 Kent Fredrikkson

THIS WEBPAGE STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

For a list of viewing sites, click here

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For hints on selecting sites that best meet your needs, read the following pages.

How to Select a Bear Viewing Site (1)

Nine Secrets to Avoid Picking a Dud

Late June, the rutting season for grizzly/brown and black bears: Low-angle light from the setting sun filled the air with a golden glow, catching strands of red in the sedgegrass and making each blade burn like a tendril of flame. Flying bugs glowing like tiny incandescent Tinker Bells.

And, then, the greatest magic of all: foxes. Weaving among several resting brown bears came two of the brilliant red canids – not trotting, but bouncing, as through the meadow were a giant trampoline. At the bottom of each bounce, they fell into a well of shadow where they looked as plump as well-fed house cats. But as each fox launched out of that shadow into the evening radiance, its fur burst into light, each hair like a sunbeam. Within that corona of fur, the body of each fox became a night-dark, silhouette that was amazingly scrawny.

(c) 2002 K. Fredrikkson

Illusion replaced by reality ... for brief moments before the sun disappeared from sight, and twilight was upon the land.

With the brightness went the heat, as though both had been blown away by the chill wind sweeping down off Hallo glacier.

Chill that made me shiver, but which must have refreshed the bears whose thick coats had made them swelter in 80 degree daytime temperatures. Here in the Alaska wilds, there was nothing cool to drink, and nothing cool to sit in ... except the sea.

Two hundred yards from me was a sow with twin yearlings. Shrugging off their late afternoon lethargy, they now arose and stretched. Both cubs began bawling until Mom relented, rolled onto her back, and let them nurse. Fifteen minutes later, these three bears, like several others, began drifting to the beach where a rapidly sinking spring tide had exposed a mile wide sand flat, home to tens of thousands of succulent razor clams.

Pulling on a jacket, I too followed the retreating tide. As bears foraged, I filmed, until the light was gone. Finally, I just watched, immersed in peace and awe ... and never-ending wariness. For this was not Hollywood, but the Alaska wilderness were even the mighty bear sleeps with one eye open, so to speak. Wilderness, where the howling of a wolf is not just a symbol of ancient mysteries, but of primeval terror to those upon whom predators prey. Terror which I have personally tasted when surrounded by a pack of famished wolves one winter long ago. Illusion replaced by reality, yet again.
* * *
Within two weeks, the rutting boars had disappeared, and the last cubless sow had completed estrus, probably pregnant. Come January, some would likely produce cubs.

Meanwhile, the usual summer drought had scorched the sedge grass. No longer succulent and nutty in flavor, but tough and fibrous, the sedge had become unpalatable to bears. The next set of clamming tides was still half-a-month away. And salmon were running in other streams. The huge glacial bowl of Hallo Bay was deserted except for a couple of sow-cub families, and one lonely biologist -- yours truly. Another month would pass before salmon hit this stream and the bears returned to hit them.

As of now, the place to see bears was Geographic Harbor, quite a few miles south, or possibly on one of the intervening salmon streams. Each bay, each valley, hosts its salmon runs at somewhat different times; each has its own unique scenery, and its own host of ursine characters. Each setting is a unique experience. Each, in a different way, transforms the lives of those who come to share it. Not a permanent transformation, perhaps; but even a temporary re-creation of who we are can open us to realms of new possibility.

Once you are sure about what kind of viewing opportunities you want, you need to cull through possible choices to see which ones are right for you. As a first step, you might want answers to the following questions:

What are all the locations where bears can be watched? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Which factors make one site better than another?

Which species of bears can be seen at each site?

When are bears best viewed at each site? (Some sites have good viewing for only a couple of weeks per year. So learn the dates of each site’s seasonal peak, as exactly as possible -- i.e., usually plus or minus a week or two at either end.)

What is the weather typically like at that site, at that time of year? (Sunny? Rainy?)

How closely can the bears be safely watched? (Some viewing tours provide only glimpses of bears, perhaps from hundreds of yards away. “Well, we saw bears; what more did you expect?”)

How long can you stay to watch bears? (The longer you stay, the better your odds of seeing any bears, to say nothing of several bears doing a variety of interesting activities. A full-day trip gives you far better odds than a half-day trip, at little additional cost. Better yet, is staying overnight to see evening and early morning activities of bears and other wildlife, or perhaps extending your trip for several days – if you can afford the lodging expense and time.)

Which viewing areas have overnight accommodations nearby – a lodge or camping site?

Which kinds of bear activity are you likely to see at each site – e.g., mating, fighting, chasing salmon, nursing cubs? How does this differ according to the date, time of day, or tidal cycle?

Which kinds of transportation (e.g., plane, boat, auto, or hiking) are available to and from each viewing site? Which would you prefer?

How safe is viewing at each site or in each style?

From which kinds of vantage can you view bears at each site? e.g., from an observatory vs. while roaming freely.

In the past, finding thorough answers to these questions has been a monumental task. Now, all you need do is read Bear Viewing in Alaska , plus the supplementary information on this website and on the Viewing Vendors website.

These introduce you to a wide array of viewing opportunities and help you identify which locations provide those kinds of experience, during the windows of time when you can make the visit, at a reasonable price.

To read a description of the book and its Table of Contents click here

NINE FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN SELECTING A VIEWING SITE

(1) Safety
(2) Vantage point
(3) Timing
(4) Availability of bears
(5) Activities by the bears at that place and time (e.g., nursing, fishing,
mating)
(6) Visibility of bears
(7) Scenery
(8) Government restrictions on what you can do in the vicinity of the
bears (e.g., how closely you can approach them; whether you can
use flash for photos, etc.)
(9) Opportunity for other activities (before and after viewing bears,
or for any members of your party who aren’t bear enthusiasts).

(1) SAFETY

At the bottom of the risk spectrum, you face virtually no danger of being mauled while observing coastal black bears from a vehicle, for instance from a skiff floating down a river. At the high end, you run face considerable danger observing Interior grizzly bears while on foot. As noted under Which Bears Can You Watch?, vantage, species, and region have big influences on risk. Other risk factors include a bear’s species, the region where it lives, and the vantage from which you watch it.

Species

Risk is lowest with black bears, intermediate with polar bears, and highest with grizzly bears. More precisely, black bears almost never kill or seriously maul people in order to protect themselves or their cubs; instead, black bears flee, either running away or climbing a tree. A polar bear is only a little less ready to flee from people. In similar defensive situations, a grizzly/brown bear is at least 100-fold more likely to attack; and, if only because a grizzly/brownie is far larger than a black bear, mauling by a grizzly/brown bear is more likely to be serious or fatal than mauling by a blackie.

With aggressive competition for food, space, or mates, the pattern is different: Black bears are still the shyest; polar bears are intermediate between black and grizzly bears, when the grizzly is substantially smaller than the polar bear.

Differences among species are much smaller when it comes to predation on people. Per capita, a black bear is only about half as predatory as a grizzly/brown bear or, presumably, a polar bear.

Region

In general coastal brown bears are far more tolerant of people than are inland grizzly bears. The same is likely true for coastal vs. inland black bears; but the difference is harder to detect because a coastal black bear is approximately as tolerant as a coastal brown bear, whereas an inland black bear is closer in temperament to a brownie than to a grizzly.

Vantage

Safety also varies dramatically according to whether you are viewing from a vehicle, a secure observatory, or while roaming freely across bear habitat.

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