This is a typical small South Eastern Alaska village, known as the “Salmon Capital of the World”. They deserve that title. As we explored the town we noticed dozens of people fishing off a small bridge that crossed part of the town's harbor. At that point, salmon were leaving their sea life behind and starting their long journey upstream, to eventually reach the gravel beds of their birth, where they'd spawn and finally die. This was the most unbelievable fishing spot. The salmon, some quite large, were going crazy. Jumping into the air, over and over again. At any instant you could count many airborne fish. It looked like some comedy movie. It was one of the funniest things we had ever seen. We all laughed until it hurt. Fish were virtually jumping into small tourist boats that came to view this spectacle. We saw a guy catching big ones on a piece of string and a hook he had just bought from some local kid. We hiked upstream, and saw fish packed side by side covering large areas of the streambed.
We were told it rained 9 inches the day before we got to Ketchikan, but that we should expect normal weather. Great until we learned what that meant. Ketchikan is the wettest place in North America. They measure rainfall in feet. Normally, they'll get 13.5 feet (162") per year, but some times more than 16 feet. We got extremely lucky, and had abnormal Ketchikan weather.
We enjoyed Ketchikan, though we didn't come to see the town as much as we came to see the bears. This part of Alaska is home to many black bears, and some grizzlies. The large brown bears and Kodiak grizzlies are in regions too far off our route, but when we heard about Neets Bay and talked to them on the phone, we knew this was an opportunity we couldn't miss.
The excitement began early in the morning, as we boarded a small five-passenger floatplane. Ralph took the co-pilots seat. I was glad he knows how to fly a plane. We had a smooth take off as we left the waters of Ketchikan headed to less populated areas. We flew low over the rugged misty mountains, and after maybe 20 minutes we softly landed on Neets Bay. On the dock, just after we got off the plane, we saw our first bear roaming the shores. That was a good sign.
After a short hike, we came to a small waterfall on a stream that flows into the bay. There weren't any bears there, but there were viewing stands. Obviously bears did visit there sometimes to catch salmon from the stream. We were dealing with wild animals, which didn't know we had come that far to see them, and we had time limits. After maybe 10 minutes, across the bay we saw three bears coming out of the woods, and heading our way. Everyone was so excited. It was a female and two cubs. One cub caught a salmon nearly as large as himself, and was having some difficulty dragging the live fish around. The cubs must learn how to catch, before they learn how to kill and eat. Meanwhile, the mother bear was ripping salmon apart and enjoying the feast. Gradually the three bears, or maybe others, made it to our side of the stream. Different bears would come and go, so it was difficult to tell which was which. We probably saw around a dozen bears.
The adult bears simply reach into the water, and grab a fighting salmon, taking about 1 second. They carry it ashore in their mouth, hold it down with their paws, and tear out the best parts, the eggs, eyes, and brain. If the fish was a male, without eggs, the bear ignores it and goes after another. Sea galls fought over the remains. It didn't seem all that brutal, since the fish were all going to die after spawning anyway. The bear needs their fatty bits to prepare for the harsh winters.
They were wild bears that have learned to tolerate viewing humans. They didn't pay much attention to us since they had food on their minds. They say a mother with cubs is the most unpredictable. We had that. But we were safe because there was a single small rope strung up between the bears and us. Though, several times we all had to step back as the bears walked too close. At times, bears were no more than 15 feet away.
Everyone that day would agree it was one of the most exciting things they had ever witnessed. It probably was the highlight of our trip. Watching wild bears catch salmon out of a stream, at close range, is just plain fun.
Before leaving Ketchikan, we managed to find an Internet Café. It was time to check out “BeamerCam”, to see what our dog was doing back home.
After Ketchikan, our ships naturalist predicted some wildlife action several hours north at Snow Pass. Sure enough, we saw porpoises corralling fish, and whales. Ralph and Tammy saw a Killer Whale surface just outside our cabin window.