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Many have seen documentary footage of grizzlies catching salmon as the fish move upstream to spawn. That footage—which likely took the filmmakers countless hours of hard work to compile—can now be seen instantly and in real time via the Internet.
explore—intentionally lowercased—has stationed multiple cameras on and around Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park to film the annual sockeye salmon runs and subsequent bear predation. Four cameras—one on the falls, one on the lower river, one on a river overlook, and a far shot from nearby Dumpling Mountain—run simultaneously and can all be seen at once. One main screen shows the desired feed, with three thumbnail views below. Viewers can click between the four as the activity increases or decreases.
Katmai features one of the highest densities of bears in the world, ensuring viewers have many opportunities to see action. The park is home to an estimated 2,200 bears; Brooks Falls in particular sees 100 bears or more descend into the water to fish each season.
The bears fatten up on the nearly-dead salmon before the long winter hibernation. In between feedings, sows may defend their cubs from aggressive males, individuals may fight over the right to a certain fishing hole, or a bear may simply sit on the river bottom and strip the fatty skin off a salmon before trying for another. If a bear lies down to sleep, that’s what viewers see.
The regularity of the bears’ fishing, coupled with the documentation of park staff, has enabled individual bears to be identified for the viewers’ information. A box on the right side of the viewing screen displays which bear is being seen at a given time.
When something exciting happens, viewers can snap a photo from the live feed by pressing a button on the screen. When nothing noteable is occurring, viewers can watch archived videos from prior recordings, like the two clips included in this article.
The user can also view the footage on a POP screen independent of the Internet window: Readers can keep up with the goings-on in Alaska on one side of their screen while reading the latest features from Sporting Classics Daily on the other.
In addition to the bears, viewers have the option of watching orcas in British Columbia, sharks in North Carolina, and many other live camera feeds across the world.
Click here to view the live bear feed.
Both videos by Explore.org Films via YouTube
Cover Image: Thinkstock