August 19, 2010
In the morning it was off to see if there were any bears fishing for salmon in Fish Creek.
Blue Pond from glacier runoff by Fish Creek
Male Salmon left discarded by the bears.
Both grizzly and black bears often come to this area to feed on chum and pink salmon in the shallow waters of Fish Creek. The Forest Service built a platform over the creek so people can view and photograph the bears feeding on salmon. The bears generally only want the female salmon for the roe. They often only eat the roe and skin. They cannot tell the males from females until they catch a fish. If it is a male, the bears will discard the salmon but it is already fatality wounded.
We waited a couple of hours and when no bears showed up, we drove around Hyder AK and Stewart BC.
A central street in Stewart
Stewart Video
Stewart BC is a larger then Hyder. Stewart’s population is around 700 while Hyder’s is around 100. Stewart also has paved roads and Hyder does not.
Hyder Alaska
Hyder Video
We went back to Fish Creek around 4:00 PM and stayed until 8:00 PM. This time we had better luck. Monica, a female grizzly, came to try her luck. She caught one salmon, ate it in the brush and then left. I missed filming her catching and eating the salmon but I was able to film her entry and exit.
Monica’s Video
The Forest Service named her Monica as she hanged around a male grizzly for a while that was named Bill.
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