I hope all of you are having a great Holiday Season. Merry Christmas! Best wishes for 2022.
Tag Archives: salmon
Oncorhynchus Rastrosus
The Sabertooth Salmon:
The sabertooth salmon, now extinct, inhabited the waters off the Pacific Coast of North America 5-12 million years ago. Oncorhynchus rastrosus received its nickname from a pair of canine-like fangs that protruded outward from its snout.
The sabertooth salmon was huge, the largest of any salmonid to ever exist. Adults reached a length of 7.5 feet, and a weight of up to 400 pounds. Try dip netting for that beast.
Like today’s salmon, the sabertooth was thought to be anadromous, meaning they went from salt water to fresh water to spawn. O. Rastrosus would have shared the ocean with some rather large predators: Namely the Megaledon shark and the Livyatan, a predatory whale.
Otis retakes Chunky Crown
A little bit of controversy this year for Fat Bear Week. Otis beat out Walker for the fattest bear of Brooks Falls. This may have been a bit of a popularity contest in 2021, with Team Otis coming out in droves to vote for the fan favorite. With that said, it is hard to dismiss the amount of weight that Otis put on in just a few short months. It was a lot of poundage, especially considering that Otis showed up at the river later than usual this summer, and that he is now missing two canine teeth, and many of his teeth are worn down.
Congrats to the now 4-Time Champ, and best wishes in the off season.
Battle of the Bruins
Fat Bear Week Title Match:
Otis is no newcomer to Fat Bear Week. A three time winner of the championship, Otis was the inaugural winner back in 2014. He also took the title in 2016 & 2017. First identified at Brooks Falls in 2001, he is one of the older bears in Katmai. A patient fisher, Otis rarely chases salmon, and has one of the higher catch rates at Brooks Falls. One of Katmai’s all-time fan favorites, the aging bruin once again appears in the finals.
Walker first showed up at Brooks Falls in 2009 as a two year old. Once known as a tolerant, playful bear, Walker has become a lot less tolerant as he has aged. As he has grown into a larger, dominate male, Walker has realized he can throw his weight around to gain prime fishing spots. Estimated to have weighed in at 1000 pounds last autumn, Walker looks to be even bigger in 2021.
Voting for the title round takes place today. Polls close at 5pm ADT.
Images and descriptions courtesy of Katmai National Park and explore.org
Bear “Bracketology”
We have some big names going belly to belly right out of the gate for Fat Bear Week. Holly & Grazer face off, and Popeye takes on Walker on Day One. Day Two has 402, and perennial fan favorite Otis going up against each other.
Bear 503, 747 “Wide Body”, Chunk and 132 all get first round byes.
Voting can be done at:
Cub Growth
Bear 132 is a spring cub. 132 is one of two surviving cubs from a litter of three. It put on a lot of weight, and a lot of hair. In the September photo, 132 weighs an estimated sixty pounds.
Bear 128 is a yearling, and the daughter of fan favorite Grazer. Grazer is a bold salmon catcher, and 128 is following that lead. By the end of this summer, 128 was catching her own leaping salmon. Park staff have not seen a yearling regularly catch salmon from the lip of Brooks Falls. A future Fat Bear Champion in the making?
Photo credit: Katmai National Park
Fat Bear Week Expands
Katmai National Park and Explore.org have added Fat Bear Junior to the madness of Fat Bear Week. Head over to the official site to vote for your favorite chubby cubby. The link is below:
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