Bear 128, also known as Grazer, has won the Fattest Bear crown in Katmai National Park’s annual online contest.
Grazer beat out a very large Chunk in the title round.
Before the salmon run, and After the salmon run
Grazer made her first appearance at Brooks Falls as a cub in 2005, and has since grown into a force that even the large male bears will attempt to avoid. Grazer has developed a reputation as a fierce mother, and will launch a preemptive attack against even large males to protect her cubs. A fan favorite on the Bear Cam, Grazer is easily identified by her very blonde, round ears. Grazer has successfully raised two litters of cubs, but this year she was an empty-nester and having to only fend for herself led to a hefty weight gain. Comparing the image from July to that in September, makes you wonder just how many salmon that bear ate.
This is the first Fat Bear Title for Grazer. A record number of votes, 1,382,783 were tallied in this year’s Fat Bear Week.
Fat Bear Week returns to Katmai and Brooks Falls. The bears have all done their part to get as round as possible before hibernation. Snow fell in Fairbanks on Tuesday, so winter is just around the corner.
The Bear Bracket
Voting starts today. Just jump on the link below to portal over to explore.org. There you can vote for your favorite chubby bruin, if you are so inclined.
King Otis of Katmai; Photo credit: NPS/explore.org
Otis returned to Brooks Falls in Katmai on Wednesday. It was the first time he had been seen since last autumn. Otis, the Bear Cam favorite, is believed to be 27 years old. A winner of 4 Fat Bear titles, Otis last won two seasons ago.
Otis, with a lunch of fresh sockeye; Photo credit: NPS/F.Jimenez
Otis is arguably the most skilled fisher-bear in Katmai. His technique is effortless, and he wastes no energy as the old bruin fattens up for another hibernation.
Welcome back Otis. Your fan club has been waiting for you.
The Bear Cam at Brooks Falls of Katmai is back on. Tune in at your leisure to check in on your favorite bruins as they fish for salmon and fatten up for the upcoming winter.
Lake Clark National Park & Preserve is located approximately 100 miles southwest of Anchorage. Originally designated a National Monument in 1978, the area was named a national park by Congress in 1980 via the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
Photo credit: NPS
The park itself is roughly 2.6 million acres, with an additional 1.4 million set aside as preserve, putting the total size at just over 4 million acres. In 2018, the park saw 14,000 visitors.
The Lake Clark area gained some degree of fame through the adventures of Dick Proenneke, who documented his homestead life at Twin Lakes before the area became a park. Proenneke not only kept detailed journals, but filmed his world in a documentary style. Alone in the Wilderness, the book about his life at Twin Lakes, and the PBS documentary of the same name were extremely well received by Alaskans and non-Alaskans alike. Not an easy thing to accomplish!
Lake Clark is a vital salmon hatchery for Bristol Bay, and is Alaska’s sixth largest lake at 42 miles long and a maximum depth of just over 1000 feet.
Lake Clark NP&P is also home to two active volcanoes. The ever rumbling Mount Redoubt and Iliamna volcano, which has been quiet of late.
Lake Clark NP&P is not road accessible. One can get to the park via floatplane or via boat from Cook Inlet.
Alaska Airlines has announced the end of an era. Their 737 with the king salmon painted on its fuselage will be repainted. Dubbed the Salmon-thirty-Salmon by an admiring public (mainly Alaskans), the repaint is facing a recall effort on change.org, but it seems the lure has been cast.
The paint job made its debut in 2005, and the plane has been a favorite up here ever since. That first painting of the 129 foot long king salmon was paid for by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, but subsequent repaints have been done by Alaska Air itself, as it continued to help promote wild, Alaskan seafood.
A spokesman for the airline stated that “a wonderful new design will be introduced in the coming months”. Alaskans seem skeptical however, thus the change.org petition.
Salmon-thirty-Salmon’s final flight will be April 17, when it flies the Southeast Alaska “milk-run”: Seattle to Anchorage, with stops in Ketchikan, Petersburg, Wrangell and Juneau.
The bear known as 747 was crowned the champion of Fat Bear Week. Not only is 747 the largest bear of Katmai National Park, but the big bruin is likely one of the largest brown bears on the planet.
This is the first time in the title round for Bear 901. She’s a 6-1/2 yo female, who was first identified in 2018. The big question in Katmai isn’t whether 901 can knock off the wide body 747 for the crown, but whether she will emerge from the den in 2023 with her first litter of cubs.
Fertilized eggs will not implant in her uterus until she has denned up for the winter. Even then, during hibernation, it will be 901’s body that decides if she is healthy enough and chunky enough to become pregnant. Without ample body fat to get 901 through hibernation and nourish a litter of cubs, the pregnancy will not occur.
747 on the other hand, being a large male, only has to worry about getting enough fat reserves to see himself through hibernation. Being one of the largest bears on planet earth, I think 747 has hit his goals. Although, no doubt, he is still putting on the calories.
Images credit: Katmai National Park & Preserve/photographer listed; Bio info credit: Katmai NP&P
