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Towering over the average human and weighing as much as a grand piano, the bears found in south-west Alaska are considered among the best in the world to observe as they pad around in a largely untouched wilderness of soaring mountains, pristine rivers and rocky beaches.

About a third of Alaska’s 30,000 brown bears are found on the Alaska Peninsula, which separates the Pacific Ocean from Bristol Bay, a place that hosts the most productive wild salmon fishery in the world and draws large numbers of bears to catch their food in the tumbling waters once they emerge from their winter hibernation.

How cool is that?

Most salmon species migrate during the fall (September through November).

Oh. Not very then.

15 thoughts on “Sigh”

  1. Given that the salmon migration in Seattle lasts from June to November, and that Alaska is further North and the snow might not have melted until June, the article could easily be right. I flew to Seattle in May once and there was ice on the rivers around the Great Lakes.

    When to see salmon at the Ballard fish ladder
    June-November, Salmon migrate at the Ballard Locks fish ladder, peaking in mid-summer. Here are the best salmon viewing times:

    June through October: Sockeye, or Red Salmon (best viewing July)
    July through November: Chinook, or King Salmon (best viewing last two weeks of August)
    August through November: Coho, or Silver Salmon (best viewing last two weeks of September)

  2. ’… the bears found in south-west Alaska are considered among the best in the world to observe…’

    Tim Treadwell could not be reached for comment.

  3. Pendants corner, bears don’t hibernate, they go into torpor. And as Tim points out they do it after the salmon migration, they don’t emerge for it.

  4. The Meissen Bison

    As all-purpose comparators, Wales does for areas and London buses for short distances. Welcome now the grand piano as a reference for great weight (though whether a concert Steinway, a boudoir Blüthner or a modest baby grand, who can say?)

    Of course, animations have long used the falling grand piano as an artefact able to squish (temporarily) those it lands upon but this strikes a fresh note.

  5. ‘weighing as much as a grand piano’

    Obscure metrics and be fun!

    How many houses can a brown bear power?

    What is that in Hiroshima bombs?

  6. “How many houses can a brown bear power?”

    Well… any house it enters sure gets excited…. That implies a lot of potential energy…

    (in Finland defined as “Perkele!” )

  7. The Great Lakes are some considerable distance from Seattle, reminds me of someone visiting Vancouver and asking if it was possible to go to Niagara Falls as a day trip

  8. Brits seem to forget that lots of individual States/Provinces are much bigger than the U.K. as a whole so even staying ‘local’ can be a multi-day day trip to get to where you want

  9. @Ummmm
    +1 many UKs would fit into Texas

    My wake-up call was moving from 60×80 mile NI to GB

    A Bull Challenges a Bear – mixed thoughts
    – AOC faces stiff competition in primary from pro-business Democrat Michelle Caruso-Cabrera
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZDzKBPDTH0
    Mixed thoughts: AOC is good for GoP, but if Biden won bad for USA & World

  10. That’s right – The eat the salmon and then go into hibernation. Sensible creatures them bears

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