by Philip Sanfilippo
July 15, 2010
Page 1 : June 2010 Field Journal
Hello—my name is Phil Sanfilippo, and I'm an Alaskan brown bear viewing guide at Alaska Adventures on the Alagnak River, which lies in the southwest tip of Katmai National Park [map]. I spend from May 31 to September 20 of each year studying wildlife and guiding guests—including photographers, film makers, vacationers and many others that enjoy the presence of the magnificent Alaskan Brown Bear. This will be my second season on the Alagnak River after spending previous years on the coast of Katmai. The Alagnak River is 290 miles southwest of Anchorage, and is one of the few rivers in Alaska where all five species of salmon return to spawn. With that said, it's understandable why there so many bears in the area. This season, I would like to share with you a weekly report on my guiding, studying and adventuring while bear viewing on the Alagnak River. [Unfortunately I was unable to give weekly reports in June 2010, but here is a quick rundown from the day I arrived in camp.]
June 1
I left King Salmon, Alaska for camp by jet boat with a crew of three: myself, Justin and Charlie. Along with the boat came 2000 pounds of food and fuel. The ride into camp took approximately three hours, with a 30-minute period on the great Bristol Bay before heading up the Alagnak for two hours. We encountered two pods of Beluga whales while in the bay; one of the pods held 15 whales in total, and the other had 8 or 9. The ride in was smooth, and we saw several moose, some with calves. No bears were spotted on the river.
We arrived at camp around 5:00 p.m. and unloaded the boat. Then I was off in search of the majestic brown bear. Signs of bears where everywhere: scat, rub marks, day beds on the river's edge, along with ripped up and chewed up water lines in camp. These signs of bear activity were everywhere, and came mostly from late last season or very early this season when the bears first emerged from their dens.
While checking our barn storage area I was surprised to see a tunnel dug below the cement foundation. At first I thought it was dug by a small bear looking for a place to den. Then I noticed the fur stuck to the bottom of the barn—it was gray and was not bear fur. This was from another of my favorite wild animals...the wolf. As I investigated inside the barn, I saw that a female wolf had claimed our barn for her winter den and had her pups there. Scat, fur and paw prints were everywhere. This female wolf found a great place for her winter den and a safe place for her pups.
June 15
I have been checking the river daily for signs of bears and salmon. As of June 15, only one bear was sighted. We've seen no Sockeye Salmon in the river yet I was concerned about only sighting one bear, I decided to take a trip up to Brooks Falls and Margot Creek on Naknek Lake and camp there with my guests to see how there bear action was going. Considering that they usually see salmon 10 to 12 days earlier than up on the Alagnak, I felt there would be a bunch of bears there. To my surprise, I only saw one bear over a three-day trip, though I was seeing lots of salmon pooling up at the mouth of rivers.
This pooling was a good sign—it told me that we are only a week or so away from the bears moving in. The same scenario was playing out at the mouth of the Alagnak. The sockeye where staging up for their annual run upriver. It seems as if the cold weather, and cooler water temperatures, have caused the season to be about one week to ten days late.
June 28
I arrived back at camp today. I saw two bears patrolling the main part of the lower river. No sockeye have entered the river yet.
June 30
We've spotted sockeye on the lower river. We saw one bear following the pocket of fish, but it was unsuccessful at catching one as long as I was viewing.
July 1
The sockeye have arrived! They are only 19 miles from camp and the bears are on them. We saw several bears fishing—there were two subadults, light in color with patchy-looking coats and weighing approximately 350 pounds each. I also saw one male about 7 to 8 years old, roughly 650 pounds, with dark chocolate color. [I determined the bear's sex by watching it urinate.] It seems the natural cycle of the salmon spawning has arrived, and the bear viewing will only get better and better from here on out. This will surely be a exciting season, and I am equally as excited to share it with all of you.
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