Mike Fitz' June 17, 2019 08:15 AKDT Comment re: Live Cam Update, Salmon Have Arrived, 32 Chunk, 132 with Remaining Yearling, 634 Popeye, and Subadult Being Seen Recently, Upcoming Season:[]
Mike Fitz commented on June 17, 2019 at 08:15 AKDT .: (Gif Link ) (634 Popeye June 15, 2019 Photo Link )
Please request Mike Fitz' permission prior to using his photo!
"Hello from Brooks River!
We're busy preparing for the upcoming bearcam season. There is no set date for the bearcams to go live, so we ask for your continued patience while the bearcams are fine tuned for live streaming. More than just a little fine tuning is needed at the river mouth, however, due to the construction of an elevated bridge. Technicians are hard at work to install cameras from multiple locations on the bridge. You'll also be able to enjoy the classic views from Brooks Falls and Dumpling Mountain.
Bear activity along Brooks River has been relatively quiet over the past few days, although several bears have been seen in the area. I can confirm that 32 Chunk, 132 and her yearling, and 634 Popeye have been here in the past few days. At least two or three subadult bears have wandered through too.
I spent a couple of hours at Brooks Falls yesterday evening. Although no bears arrived while I was there, a noticeable wave of sockeye salmon did. They are the first of millions to return to Katmai and Bristol Bay.
I'll be here until mid July. Along with John Koster and Naomi Boak, we will be hosting many live video chats, text chats in the comments, and play-by-plays from the river. Stay tuned for more updates and live event schedule announcements. We'll post those as soon as we can."
Brooks Lodge's June 17, 2019 08:45 AKDT Facebook Post with Brooks Lodge Employee, Madison's Photo of Kara Stenberg & A Bear:[]
Brooks Lodge's June 17, 2019 08:45 AKDT Facebook post with Brooks Lodge employee, Madison's photo of Kara Stenberg and a bear.:
Mike Fitz' June 17, 2019 09:57 Comment re: iNaturalist Project: Are You There, Brown Bear?:[]
Mike Fitz commented on June 17, 2019 at 09:57 AKDT :
"Just FYI, I've updated the featured comment to include info on a bearcam iNaturalist project that I think many of you will be interested in." Are You There, Brown Bear?
About the Are You There, Brown Bear? iNaturalist Project by Mike Fitz:[]
Help document the presence of brown bears at Brooks River, Alaska.
Katmai National Park is home to over 2,000 brown bears and people visit from all over the world to watch them. Over one hundred individual bears have been identified using Brooks River, site of world-famous Brooks Falls, in a single year.
Since 2001, Katmai National Park biologists have monitored bear and human use at Brooks River to record the number of individual bears; their activity rates; bear “arrival” dates; fish capture rates; and relative bear and human use in the river downstream of the falls. Biologists currently monitor bears from late June through July and again from late August through early October. These defined observation periods coincided with peak activity at the river.
However, the bear monitoring program is limited by staffing and time constraints, and there is much we don’t know about this population. With the advent and popularity of webcams (bear cams) at Brooks River, the public has the opportunity to contribute to this long-term monitoring study.
Contributing is easy:
1. Watch the bearcams at explore.org/bears
2. Take a snapshot when you see bears
3. Upload the image to iNaturalist
4. Geotag the image so it is located at Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska (58.555377 N, 155.791516 W)
5. Tag the image with this project.
6. Answer a few basic questions about the photo.
7. Submit your observation!
Thank you for your contribution to this project!
