Standing at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park on July 31st of 2024, there was a lot to absorb. Any one of the 17 bears within view could have captivated us for hours and on top of that were the birds.
Rather than being deterred by the gathering of these massive predators, birds and humans flock to the scene. Black-billed magpies patrol the banks, juvenile White-crowned sparrows scavenge around the platform, various warblers travel through the trees, Bald eagles hunt from log perches, and a flock of gulls is always surveying the scene.
Every bear in the vicinity is under constant surveillance by the flock of Glaucous-winged gulls that take up daily residence on the island below the falls. These gulls see every lunge, jump, and splash; they note every miss and react to every catch. The second a catch is made, the gulls launch into position, getting awkwardly close, aggressively close, and sometimes dangerously close to the dining bear. The gulls position themselves strategically and expertly recover any lost or abandoned scraps. Sometimes they're brazen enough to steal pieces from right under the bear's nose.
On one occasion, while trying to keep her catch away from a begging adult daughter on the lip of the falls, a bear dropped the tail end of a fish. The gulls positioned downstream had it on the bank in seconds and a tussle ensued. Four gulls physically fought over the fish until one managed to swallow it and stood up as though to say, "There, it's gone, matter settled." Only the piece was so large that the tail was still sticking out of his mouth. As a second determined gull continued to argue, the first gull toppled over from the imbalance. He fell face-first into the water and barely managed to right himself so he was facing us. Wings spread, on his belly, and breathing heavily, I gasped, "he's going to suffocate!" The second gull cried more urgently, either complaining louder or suddenly worried for the first gull. "He's dying, I can't watch this," I whispered to my husband, hoping he wasn't truly suffocating but just needed time to digest. My hope was suddenly crushed when we spotted a bear making a beeline for the gull. He moved quickly and with incredible intention. I tried to look away; I did not want to see this poor gull dismembered. However, the bear stopped short of the gull, lifted his paw, dropped it squarely on the gull's back, and stepped back. In one smooth motion, the gull popped up and flew off, dropping the fish tail in front of the bear. The bear scooped up his prize and sauntered off, leaving us with our jaws hanging open. I would wager that it was not the bear's first time performing the Heimlich maneuver on a gull to recover fish.
The gull was already splayed out on the edge of the water when the bear apprached
The gull is simultaneously taking off and regurgitating the fish tail, the bear makes no move to stop or capture the gull
The bear looks at the fish tail in the water before picking up his reward, the second gull looks on defensively from the bank
The second gull held his position, though, and let the bear have it! He followed the bear to scold him harshly and drove the entire flock of four dozen birds into a frenzy. The air filled with distress calls, and every gull flew circles over the falls as they did when spotting a Bald eagle. A handful of gulls who had witnessed the altercation focused on harassing the offending bear.
The Heimlich administering bear in the bottom right, not photographed is a small flock of gulls shouting at him from the bank
That was the only direct contact we witnessed between the bears and the gulls on our trip, but it was clear that just as the gulls know the bears are a source of fish scraps, the bears consider the gulls a source too. For example, it is common for the bears to rush at a flock of gulls and then check to see what the gulls left behind. Especially when any gulls are arguing, they will eventually draw the attention of a bear. At times, I can't help but imagine the bear just wanting to help moderate, "Alright, break it up you two, we all do our best to get along at Brooks Falls."
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