The salmon were so thick in the water that it was amazing it was taking the female black bear so long to catch one. She was positioned at the bottom of the falls where the pink salmon were battling for their lives to get to the top. She hunched down again, watching the water carefully while always keeping two paws on the shore and then pounced and got one! She carried it up the hill to eat away from all the other bears. It is early in the season and only the alpha male bears will be left unchallenged to eat their fish by the river.

Suddenly the three black bears all scampered up the hill. We looked down river to see a brown bear (better known as a grizzly) come sauntering up to fish. She was obviously at the top of the pecking order! Unlike the black bears, the grizzly jumped right in and as the ranger called it “snorkeled” for fish. It was amazing to watch as she put her head underwater to look for the salmon. Up in the trees there were over a dozen eagles waiting for scraps left from the bears and at the entrance to the harbor there were multiple seals splashing and slapping the water as they dove and fished for salmon.

We felt like we were in a National Geographic special however we were at the Anan Bear and Wildlife Observatory. Each year the pink salmon return here to spawn and the bears, eagles and seals come to feed on them. The observation platform is at a waterfall a ½ mile hike from the entrance on a narrow boardwalk through the woods.

Before we could hike out to the platform a forest ranger spent 15 minutes giving us the rundown on what to expect. “Make noise as you go around blind corners in the trail to let the bears know you are there and stay together because the bears get really stressed out if they get between you”. Hmm, I was thinking that I might be just a little stressed out too if we had a bear between us, but I just smiled and nodded. He added, “It isn’t unusual for the bears to be within 15’ of you. Don’t make any sudden moves, don’t turn and run, just talk louder and make yourself look bigger.” Ok, I am thinking, this is for real! Luckily for us, there were no bears on the trail, only lots of their scat!

We had such an amazing time that we went back again the next morning. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that we will never forget. Check out the photo page for a few more photos and as soon as we have better internet I will post more.