The Natural World
What nature photographers do is capture moments of the natural world through our own individual eyes. It never looks the same from one photographer to the next, but we try to capture the beauty, diversity and uniqueness that surrounds us all in this beautiful world that we call home. One thing that has always been on my mind while searching for those moments is that each capture is unique and will never be duplicated. Sure, we can watch a hundred Blue Ridge Mountain sunsets, but each one will be its own special moment, never to appear again. Or we can capture a Black Bear feasting on wild cherries, but each moment will be unique. So, I consider it a privilege to be able to share with you the way I see the world. Although I probably do this more for myself than anything else, it is nice that sometimes a moment that I capture can be appreciated by someone else and may possibly have a positive impact on how people see the world or their own place within it.
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Recent Captures
From Brooks Camp in Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska…this is Bear 32, more famously known as “Chunk.” This could be a sad story, but as of July of this year, it’s a story of resilience and toughness in the face of adversity. If you look closely Chunk has an injury to his mouth, unfortunately it’s a broken jaw. Rangers noticed it and an injured foot earlier in the season and then he disappeared for a couple of weeks. They thought that he was more than likely injured in a fight with another bear. This kind of injury could be devastating for an animal that depends on gaining as much weight, or fat reserves, as possible before hibernation. Also, this is right in the middle of the Sockeye Salmon run which is where so much of the bear’s far reserves for the summer come from. But, I did personally see him catching and eating salmon from the Brooks River. At around 20 years of age, Chunk was first identified in 2007 as a 2 year old and by 2014, he had steadily risen in the Katmai bear hierarchy due to his size and strength, becoming one of the most dominant bears on the Brooks River by 2021. He increasingly became more dominant at Brooks Falls, often securing prime fishing spots. But now, we wait and see how much of an effect this injury will have on Chunk in the future. Wild animals often surprise us with their abilities to overcome even the harshest of situations. Let’s all hope that Chunk continues to work through and adapt to this challenge and that he continues to thrive in this often-harsh world of an animal surviving in the wilds of Alaska.