Katmai brown bear cubs learning how to ‘walk on water’ to nab salmon

Bear #284 demonstrating how to walk out on to the water to fish. Image: explore.org/em> Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. As salmon season winds down and Fat Bear Week approaches, the famous brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve have to get out and about while the eating is good. Bear #284 (Electra) was spotted out and about this week, looking healthy with her two cubs. Electra is part of a well-established bear lineage in Katmai. She was born in 2008 to Bear #708 (Amelia), who was likely born to Bear #468 (Reggie). Rangers first spotted her in 2011 as a subadult. She has had at least three litters of cubs, in 2016, 2020, and 2026, respectively. Bears #901 and #384 are two of her adult offspring who have been seen in the park. This year, she had two spring cubs who have been spotted with her multiple times over the summer. According to Katmai and explore.org naturalist Mike Fitz, one way that bear culture is similar to human culture is that their knowledge is passed down. Mother bears teach their cubs skills, and the offspring primarily learn by doing instead of through inherited instincts. Mother bears like Electra will teach their cubs about safe places to build dens, where and when to find food, and how to get it. Meet Bear 284 Electra Fishing techniques can also be specific to each individual bear. Adult male Bear #164 (aka Bucky Dent) is known for standing at the deepest plunge pool under the cascade of Brooks Falls, where he can catch the salmon that wells up from the pool below, jump up, or come down from the falls above. Electra’s mother Amelia used to stand and walk out into the water when she was fishing, and Electra and one of her adult offspring (Bear # 901) fish the same way. Physically, Electra is a medium-sized adult, and has a dark blond or medium-brown coat in July. By the fall, her coat typically becomes more uniformly brown. She also has a prominent shoulder hump and a tapered muzzle. Electra made her Fat Bear Week debut in 2023, where she lost to ace-fisher bear Bucky Dent. Fat Bear Week 2026 runs from September 22 through September 29. 2026 Popular Science Home of the Future Awards 39 products that will improve your everyday life.