The Bears of Brooks Falls
Brooks Falls in the Katmai National Park, Alaska, is famous as one of the few locations where bears gather in great numbers to feast on the migrating salmon. As the salmon leap the falls on their journey to the sporning grounds, the bears wait on top of the falls, mouth open.
Bears are typically solitary creatures and avoid the company of other bears - except during the salmon run. The bears have a strict hierarchy which dictates which bears get the best fishing spots. All bears carry fresh scars from defending / challenging for their fishing rights. The Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) is the same species as the inland Grizzly, but they grow much larger because of the high protein diet and extremely large males can weigh as much as 900 pounds and stand 9 feet tall on their hind legs.
A large bear needs typically seven large salmon a day to put on enough fat to survive the winter in hibernation. Some bears, prefer to simply 'steal' fish from others rather than catch their own. When the dominant bears have had their fill, they will wander back into the woods to sleep off their feast allowing more junior bears access to the falls.
Bears nearly always eat the skin first, then the body and lastly, with great skill, they bite off the top of the skull and lick out the brain. The salmon's belly, full of eggs, is another favorite delicacy.