Play Time at Chinitna Bay - Coastal Brown Bears

One of the big reasons I wanted to go to Alaska, was to get to photograph bears.  And boy did I get to.  I got to spend 2 days photographing the Coast Brown Bears along Chinitna Bay, at Lake Clark National Park. It was everything I hoped for and more!!  My favorite moment - well hour, was when 2 sow siblings began playing right in front of us and it went on for over an hour!  

To stay safe we staying in groups while photographing the bears.  It was getting late in the evening and the tide was out and a few bears were heading down to the beach for clamming

Part of our group decided to head down and watch the bears on the beach.  One came down through the grass to the beach fairly close to us and kept walking back and forth along the shore looking back behind us.  It was obvious she was looking for something and she didn't care about us. It appeared she was looking for another bear.

She kept drawing nearer to us so we grouped together and waited to see what she was going to do.  We turned and looked in the direction she was looking and here came another bear and we were in between them.  We really started grouping together then but kept clicking our cameras madly - ha.

They seemed to be be so happy when they came together.  They cuddled and loved on each other for a good while.

Then they started playing with each other like 2 little kittens.  It was amazing!! This went on for almost an hour right in front of us. Finally around 11:15 (yes pm) we had to head back to our lodging as it was going to be an early morning.  We hated to leave but we certainly enjoyed the show.

If you would like to see my Video of  A Day in the Life of a Coastal Bear Click Here!