51 Diver Junior with left ear split / partially missing June 24, 2017 by Melissa Freels Please request Melissa's permission prior to using her photo!
Adult Male
Year First Identified: 2007 as a subadult
Year Last Observed: 2019
Offspring Of: Not known at this time
Genetics Study Samples Obtained: There have been no known darting attempts, successful or unsuccessful, of 51 Diver Junior by Ranger Michael Saxton for the genetics study in 2016 and 2017.
Identification:[]
2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook & 2014 Bears of Brooks River book: 51 is an adult male with large, oval ears and a blonde coat. He has a long muzzle that tapers nearly into his forehead. In 2011, he received a deep wound to his left hip that may be visible as a scar during shedding.
2015 Bears of Brooks River book: 51 is an adult male with large, oval ears and a light brown coat. He has a long muzzle that tapers nearly into his forehead. In 2014, he received a deep wound to his left hip that may produce a noticeable scar.
2016 & 2017 Bears of Brooks River books: 51 is an adult male with large, oval ears and a medium blond or rusty brown coat. He has a long muzzle that tapers nearly into his forehead. In July, numerous small scars are visible on his body and neck
Distinctive Behaviors:[]
2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook: 51 is one of the few bears who dive completely underwater when fishing. 51 may be seen walking quickly below the Falls Platform to and frm the fish ladder, where he appears to fish most often.
2014 Bears of Brooks River book: 51 is one of the few bears who dive completely underwater when fishing. 51 can be seen walking below the Falls Platform to and from the fish ladder. He commonly fishes the far pool on the north side of the falls.
2015 - 2017 Bears of Brooks River books: 51 can be seen walking below the Falls Platform to and from the fish ladder. He commonly fishes the far pool on the north side of the falls, and has attempted to fish the jacuzzi. He is usually displaced by most other adult males at the falls. #51 is not known to use the river consistently in the fall. 2012 was the only year he was seen at Brooks River in September.
Life History:[]
2007:[]
51 Diver Junior was initially classified and assigned his bear monitoring number as a subadult in 2007.
July 2007:[]
2008:[]
July 2008:[]
2011:[]
June 2011:[]
July 2011:[]
2011.07.05: Buddy Aluwihare photographed 51 Diver, Jr at Brooks Falls on 7/5/2011. Mike Fitz commented on 01/20/2020 09:33 about Buddy's photogrpah of 51 Diver, Jr" "Bears are far more muscular than they look. That's a good example of a just how much so."
September 2011:[]
2012:[]
51 Diver Junior was included in the 2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook :
July 2012:[]
September 2012:[]
51 Diver Junior is not known to use the river consistently in the fall. 2012 was the only year he was seen at Brooks River in September.
2013:[]
July 2013:[]
2013.07.??: Ranger Mike shared this photo of 51 Diver Junior from July 2013. (2018.03.20 asked Mike if this is an NPS photo that can be added to 51's wiki page, awaiting reply)
2014:[]
51 Diver Junior was included in the 2014 Bears of Brooks River book on page 15:
July 2014:[]
2014.07.05: Ranger Jeanne's flickr album of 51 Diver Junior contains these photos: Photo #1 , Photo #2 , Photo #3 , Photo #4 , Photo #5 , Photo #6 , and Photo #7 .
2015:[]
51 Diver Junior was included in the 2015 Bears of Brooks River book on page 52:
June 2015:[]
2015.06.24: Diver Junior 51 NPS photo Mike Fitz shared January 7, 2018 :
2015.06.27:
51 Diver Junior from grassy point to near the floating bridge deck on the south side of river video by Martina:
Cam viewers captured these snapshots from the same time and Ranger Mike confirmed the June 27, 2015 bear's ID on July 2, 2015.:
2015.06.29. or PRIOR: Big old bear (51 Diver) scans Brooks Falls for fish, video by MSO Belle 6/29/2015 or prior.
July 2015:[]
2016:[]
51 Diver Junior was included in the adult males section of the 2016 Bears of Brooks River book on page 61:
51 Diver Junior was not observed during official bear monitoring sessions in 2016. However, cam viewers observed 51 on the Explore live cams and park visitors also observed him on their trips to Brooks Camp. 51 Diver Junior suffered a fairly visible wound to his right side early in the 2016 season that may leave a scar to help in identifying him in future seasons.:
June 2016:[]
2016.06.21:
16:19: 51 Diver Junior video by Mickey Williams:
2016.06.22:
Park visitor and cam viewer Iznik8 observed 51 Diver Junior on their trip to Brooks Camp. On May 18, 2017 Iznik8 shared some of their photos of 51 Diver Junior: Photo #1 , Photo #2 , Photo #3 & Photo 4 .
Please request Iznik8's permission prior to using their photos!
Juergen's gif of 51 Diver Jr
747 displaces 83 Wayne Brother and 51 Diver Junior video by Ratna:
2016.06.23: 51 Diver Jr is in the jacuzzi in the beginning of this video by Ratna Narayan. 814 Lurch is the bear above the falls early into this video. 814 then climbs below the falls to fish in the far pool. 747 comes up river from below the island and his approach displaces 51 Diver Jr from the jacuzzi.:
2016.06.24:
11:5?: 51 Diver Junior video by Mickey Williams:
51 Diver Junior is displace by 603 in this video by Ratna:
Cam viewer, Marie G, captured these snapshots of 51:
2016.06.25:
15:26: 51 Diver Junior video by Mickey Williams:
2017:[]
51 Diver Junior was included in the adult males section of the 2017 Bears of Brooks River book on page 65:
June 2017 - July 2017:[]
2017.06.23 - 2017.07.03: GreenRiver created this video of 51 Diver Junior at the falls from June 23, 2017 to July 3, 2017:
June 2017:[]
2017.06.24: Park visitor and cam viewer, Melissa Freels captured these photos of 51 Diver Junior during her trip to Brooks Camp. Melissa's second photo shows 51 Diver Junior's split left ear / partially missing left ear. Melissa shared this information about 51's ear: "51 had a split in his ear when I was there end of June. It was only noticeable when you looked at him from a certain angle": Photo #1 , Photo #2 (Melissa Freels' flickr), Photo #3 , Photo #4 , Photo #5 , and Photo #6 :
Please request Melissa's permission prior to using her photos!
Melissa also captured this video of 51 Diver Junior on June 24th:
2017.06.26:
At the 3:32 mark into this video by Ratna, 51 Diver Junior is the bear sitting on the bank of the Brooks River in front of the Brooks Falls wildlife viewing platform. Note: 634 Popeye is the large bear near the island at the beginning of the video.:
51 Diver Jr video by Brenda D:
20:0?: 51 Diver Junior video by Mickey Williams:
2017.06.28: Juergen gif of 51 Diver Junior.
June & July 2017:[]
2017.06.23 - 2017.07.03: GreenRiver created this slideshow video with snapshots of 51 Diver Junior captured between June 23, 2016 to July 3, 2016:
July 2017:[]
2017.07.02: 274 Overflow, 503 Cubadult and 51 Diver Junior video by Ratna:
2017.07.03:
51 Diver Junior, 856, and 83 Wayne Brother courting 402 in this video by Erum Chad (aka Erie):
Bear 402 pursued by 51 Diver Jr, 856 and 83 Brooks Falls cam July 3, 2017 video by Erum Chad (aka Erie)
51 displaces 151 Walker video by rossetro:
2017.07.17: 23:05: Could the bear that is missing his left ear in this video by Flyer 7474 (aka SteveCA) be 51 Diver Junior?:
Bear With One Ear (Could this be 51 Diver Jr?) the darker bear is 700 Marge July 17, 2017 23 05 video by Flyer 7474 (SteveCA)
This topic was discussed with former KNP&P ranger, Mike Fitz, on January 8, 2018 and January 9, 2018. The July 17, 2017 23:05 video by Flyer 7474 (SteveCA) above of the boar missing his left ear , Mike's 2015 photo of 51 Diver Junior for comparison , and Melissa's June 24, 2017 photo of 51 Diver Jr with the partially missing / split left ear were all part of this discussion. Hopefully 51 Diver Jr will return in 2018, with or without his left ear, and help us solve this mystery:
2018:[]
2018 Season:[]
2018.??.??: VIP and cam viewer, Stacey shared this 2018 season story about 51 Diver Junior.:
"Hi, everyone —
Reposting a story about 51 Diver Jr that I shared earlier this a.m.
This story is from 2018.
On the Brooks Falls platform, people often count how many bears they can see. In general, for many people, the more bears the better.
But one day last year, early in the season, I was volunteering on the BF platform.
An older gentleman was one of a small handful of visitors early one morning in June.
He was there for several hours, and during that time, he saw only one bear -- 51 Diver Jr.
Some guests might've been disappointed. "Only one bear? I thought I was going to see TWENTY bears!"
But this gentleman loved it. He watched the bear for several hours, and we talked about bears in general, and I shared what I knew about this bear from the Bear Book.
And when he left he said, "This was such a great day! I'll never forget this day with MY BEAR."
And that is my story about 51 Diver Jr, a special bear for a special guest on a special day."
June 2018:[]
2018.06.24 23:09: 51 Diver Junior was observed on the Lower River coming up Spit Road. Cam viewers captured these snapshots:
2018.6.25: 51 Diver Junior was observed and photographed at Brooks Falls by park visitor and cam viewer Leslie Zane.
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2018.06.25: Lesleezee shared these photos of 51 Diver Junior: #1 & #2
July 2018:[]
51 Diver Junior was observed once during official July 2018 bear monitoring sessions :
2019: Adult Male[]
June 2019:[]
2019.06.21: Cruiser created this gif of 128 Grazer and 51 Diver Junior. Cruiser created this gif of 51 Diver Junior and 128 Grazer. Ratna captured many snapshots of 51 Diver Junior on June 21, 2019 .: (#1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9 , #10 , #11 , #12 , #13 , #14 , #15 , #16 , #17 , #18 , #19 , #20 , #21 , #22 , #23 & #24 ).
51 Diver Junior courting 128 Grazer video by mckate.:
51 Diver in the far pool video by Lani H.:
2019.06.22: On June 22, 2019 at 07:35 AKDT, campfiredavis shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior at Brooks Falls. On June 22, 2019 at 07:35 AKDT MMT shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 07:35 AKDT, KCanada shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. At 07:35 AKDT on June 22, 2019 Bearz61 shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 07:36 AKDT, Bears61 shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 07:36 AKDT, CarolineB shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 07:36 AKDT, Lani H shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 07:36 AKDT, MMT shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 07:37 AKDT, swamplady shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 07:37 AKDT, Jen shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior with Alice photobombing. On June 22, 2019 at 07:38 AKDT, Cruiser shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 07:39 AKDT, Kanzas shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 07:39 AKDT, Jen shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 07:40 AKDT, Bookmom shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 07:40 AKDT, Kanzas shared this snapshotof 51 Diver Junior and Alice. On June 22, 2019 at 07:40 AKDT, Bruni Caselli shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 08:20, BearBell shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. On June 22, 2019 at 08:20 AKDT, GrumpyCatLisa shared this snapshot of 51 Diver Junior. KCanada shared these snapshots (#1 & #2 ) of 51 Diver Junior (p 01/04/2020 10:22 ).:
2020: Adult Male[]
For future use.
Known Courting & Mating:[]
2017:[]
402 Courting July 3, 2017:[]
51 Diver Junior courting 402 in this video by Erum Chad (aka Erie):
Bear 402 pursued by 51 Diver Jr, 856 and 83 Wayne Brother July 3, 2017 video by Erum Chad (aka Erie)
2019: []
128 Grazer Courting June 21, 2019: []
51 Diver Junior courting 128 Grazer video by mckate:
Known Relatives:[]
None known at this time.
However, this information is available from the 2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook : Although 51 is nicknamed Diver Junior, there is no known relation between this bear and the famous "Diver". 51 Diver Junior is one of the few bears who will dive completely underwater when fishing. 402 and 403 Egberta. who are siblings that both dive, look similar to 51 in some ways. It is unknown if these bears are related to one another.
Genetics Study Samples Obtained:[]
2016: None Known[]
There were no known darting attempts, successful or unsuccessful, of 51 Diver Junior by Ranger Michael Saxton for the genetics study in 2016.
2017: None Known[]
There were no known darting attempts, successful or unsuccessful, of 51 Diver Junior by Ranger Michael Saxton for the genetics study in 2017.
A special thank you to StMango for providing the individual NPS photos from the 2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook, and to Xander-Sage for creating the gif from the NPS photos!