Spring on Kodiak Island
I love
spring. It is my favorite season. As winter loosens its grip and the vegetation
begins to grow again, the world seems to return to life. Foxes scream in the
middle of the night in search of new mates; does arrive in our yard with their
wobbly, newborn fawns; eagles soar in mating spirals and begin remodeling their
nests for the arrival of their chicks; and bears leave their dens in search of
food after a long winter of fasting.
Spring
always brings unexpected joys, and no two springs are alike. This year, we have
watched an abundance of herring enter Uyak Bay to spawn. Often when large
schools of herring return, we see increased whale, seal, and sea lion activity
in the bay, but this year we’ve observed something different and exciting. Bears
are feeding on the herring in the tidal flats at the head of Uyak Bay where the
herring spawn. While in the summer months, bears typically catch and eat salmon
in this same area, they don’t usually congregate to feed on herring. Herring
are rich, oily fish loaded with nutritional value, and they provide a great
supplement to a bear’s diet.
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Bears’ stomachs contract during
hibernation, and when they first leave their dens, their appetites are
suppressed, and they eat little, concentrating on emerging plants and their
roots. As spring progresses, bears can
be seen feeding in grassy meadows and look much like grazing cattle with their
heads bent to the earth. We don’t
usually see bears feeding on fish until summer when they chase and catch
salmon, but bears are opportunistic feeders, and since the herring are here
now, bears are taking advantage of their abundance.
Herring are
smaller than salmon, making them more difficult for a bear to catch. The
herring swim into the eelgrass in the tidal areas at the head of Uyak Bay where
they lay their eggs. When the tide ebbs, the fish temporarily become stranded
in the shallow tidal pools, and bears can chase down and pounce on the fish.
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As with
salmon fishing, older bears are better than younger bears at landing herring.
Fishing is a skill bears learn with much
practice over time, so young bears are often clumsy fishermen. A sub-adult bear might gallop back and forth
for thirty minutes without successfully landing a fish, while an older bear
walks deliberately through the water and pounces with little effort on a
passing herring. Each bear develops his
own, unique fishing technique.
In the long
run, this early appetizer of herring probably will make little difference to
the overall health of the bears, but if Kodiak has a poor berry crop and a poor
salmon run, this early addition of herring could sustain the bears until the
salmon arrive.
Spring is only beginning here on Kodiak Island, and I can’t wait to see what other surprises the season has in store for us.
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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.
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