in August of 2010 Barb and I were lucky enough to be guests on a boat off the coast of Katmai Island known to native Alaskans as Grizzly Island.. We were anchored one cove over from where that Newport Beach Couple were eaten by the brown bears not that many years earlier. The owner of the boat and a long time friend of ours asked who wanted to go ashore to see "the bears". Roughly 10 of us said "sure lets go". He said we were certain to see them because of the salmon runs that time of year. And did we ever! The skiff dropped us off 3 at a time. My old friend carried with him an imposing gun for protection. A few of the Grizzlies were already feeding at the mouth of a stream which emptied into the bay. Soon more bears came out of the forest and then more and more. At one time there were 20 to 30 Grizzlies roaming all around us with several walking within just a few feet of us. Some of the guests were in chairs drinking wine and others like myself were taking photos as fast as we could. Several grizzlies were leading their cubs into the water next to us-no more than 5-10 ft away showing their cubs how to catch the silvers. WE were within a few feet drinking wine and continuing to take photos. Nevertheless these grizzlies could care less about our presence. They were too busy feeding off the salmon. At one point a float plane landed at least a mile and a half from us on the other side of the bay. A group of people climbed out and began walking at a low crouch position with their arms on the shoulders of the person in front of them. They then got down on their knees and with binoculars and telescopes began searching across the bay for the very bears that were just a few feet away from us-and here we were drinking wine with these marvelous animals... I can only imagine what they must have thought paying a healthy sum of money to see the Grizzlies from a distance and here we were across the bay having a party with the bears. But then things changed ! Most of our friends wanted to get back to the boat as the sky began to darken.even though this was in the middle of August. Somehow Barb and I were going to be the last to be picked up in the skiff. Unfortunately to us the skiff operator had to do some repairs on the Trident and Barb and I were by ourselves as the light became less and less.. Soon many more bears began coming out from the trees-and no sign of the skiff leaving the boat to come get us. At that point neither Barb nor myself were "enjoying" these bears and in fact were downright anxious. When I saw the skiff eventually leave the big boat I counted a minimum of 35-40 grizzlies all around us-luckily still fishing.

Barb made a wonderful and very professional large book of photos of the trip including many fascinating photos of the bears that are as impressive as anything I've seen on wildlife channels.
When I shared them with my son his words were: "I'm surprised we don't own your home right now". If any of us happen to meet someplace I would be happy to share the book with you guys. It is truly amazing



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/2018 03:45PM by waterfield.