HARVEY WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

North American Bears: Alaskan Brown Bears

Brown bears are a species of grizzly bear. The bears that live near the ocean are much larger than their inland counterparts as they have access to a larger variety of protein sources including clams and salmon. Coastal brown bears can become as large as polar bears, especially the infamous Kodiak Bears.

These pictures were taken in Alaska, USA.

Youtube video of brown bears nursing

youtube video of our four seater plane leaving the Alaskan Beach

This is a 15 month old brown bear cub and mommy. This is my favourite picture from my Alaskan adventure.
   
This little guy was briefly distracted by me as he gave me a quick glance before running to catch up to his mommy and siblings.
   
Pthffft was recognized as highly honored in Nature's Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards 2012 Exhibition. This image will be exhibited at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC from June 7th, 2013 to sometime in the spring of 2014.
     
  
These twins were only about 4-6 weeks old at the time this picture was taken.
   
This little guy was getting a little cheeky. We were a little bit lower than he was. I took my eye off him briefly to change lenses. The next thing I heard was our guide shooing him away. Instinctively he noticed that I wasn't paying attention, so he charged at me.
   
This impatient cub ran ahead of mommy, then lost her in the tall grass, so climbed this dead tree for a better vantaget point.
     
  
This mother is still taking care of her two cubs. At 15 or 16 months old, they are rambunctious and like to run ahead and then get bored waiting for their slow mommy.
   
  
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
As an animal runs into the bush, it is common that they will take one last glance back before disappearing. This was the case in this photo.
  
Even brown bear cubs like old trucks.
     
  
These cubs are actually triplets, but only two would pose at a time:)
  
This dominant brown bear cub uses his sibling as a pillow.
   
     
  
   
  
     
  
This brown bear cub is clamming on the ocean at low tide with his mother and siblings.
   
  
These two characters were just full of trouble. The owners of the lodge were building a new cabin for guests. They had a brand new couch for the new living room shipped over on a barge. The work crew that was putting the finishing touches on the cabin came inside for lunch, but unfortunately didn't think about the couch in the parking lot. Meanwhile the twins ate through the plastic wrap and chewed off the corner of the couch.
     
  
On our last evening in Alaska I decided to stay at the lodge as the twins and mom seemed to hang around the lodge in the evenings. Just as I suspected they were just in front of the lodge so I went out to photograph them. To make a long story short, this trouble maker mock charged me twice. He was very cocky and brash.
   
I'm not sure if this juvenile brown beear wanted to play with me, intimidate me or worse, but he got so close that our guide had to yell at him and intimidate him to scare him off. He got about five feet away before he finally retreated.
   
     
  
   
  
     
  
These big male brown bears were figthing on the beach, so we made sure to keep our distance.
   
  
     
  
   
  
These two cubs were playing like dogs. They chased after one another and were really entertaining.
     
  
These triplets were active little characters. Although I actually spent a lot of hours with them, I only managed to get a few pictures of them all together in the same picture.
   
  
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
  
     
  
At low tide, mom digs up clams, then the three cubs enjoy an Alaskan delicacy. Next to their afternoon nap, I think this is likely their favorite activity of the day.
   
After our safari, I noticed these two rascals in front of the lodge, so I had to go back out and snap a few more shots of them.
   
     
  
This young brown bear cub gave us one last look back before he left to join his siblings and mommy on their way to the beach.
   
It is interesting how similar animals are. These two brown bear cubs were running around, chasing after one another just like dogs play.
   
Brown bear cubs playing just like dogs.
     
  
These spring brown bear cubs are wild brown bears living in Alaska.
   
  
This blonde brown bear cub was in a field in Alaska.
     
  
   
  
Mmmm, clams
     
  
These brown bear cubs take a short break, then run to catch up to mom. They are on the ocean floor at low tide to dig for clams.
   
These two brown bear cubs are hanging out with their mommy at low tide. Mom digs up clams and shares them with her kids.
   
These two brown bear cubs were running across the ocean floor at low tide in an attempt to catch up to mommy so she could dig up some clams for them.
     
  
   
When the brown bear cubs are this tiny, they need to stand up to see over the grass when they hear something foreign. It's tough to catch a good shot of them standing up, but pretty cute when they do.
   
     
  
Brown bear mom and cubs on the Ocean floor at low tide looking for clams.