Earl, a 25 year old blonde, male grizzly with no ears, a long scar running down his right cheek, stiff legged and arthritic and chunks of flesh ripped out of him - The Frankenstein of Grizzlies/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwestern Alaska/Early August 2002/Film
Looking downstream of the McNeil River with bears fishing for salmon/Mt. Augustine (volcano)/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 1989/Film
A group of visitors cross Mikfik Creek on the way to McNeil River/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
A group of visitors listen to their Alaska Fish & Game guide on the way to McNeil River/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
A group of visitors approach the upper viewing pad above the McNeil River/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
A grizzly bear stands beside our guide and visitor at the upper viewing pad/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
A female grizzly and her cubs looks over at a visitor at the upper viewing pad/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
Bob Tourtelot stands beside his camera gear at the upper viewing pad/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
Pete Johnson stands beside his tripod/McNeil River/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Alaska Peninsula/Southwest Alaska/Early August 2002/Film
Bob Tourtelot standing beside his camera gear/McNeil River/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Alaska Peninsula/Southwest Alaska//Early August 2002/Film
Bill Watkins standing beside his camera rig/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film - Photo by Bob Tourtelot
Refuge Manager Larry Aumiller dangles an exceedingly large mosquito in front of a live view camera/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
Refuge Manager Larry Aumiller, a visitor, Pete Johnson & Bob Tourtelot stand in front of the cook shack/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
Visitors and guides socialize in the cook shack at McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
A female grizzly bear (Teddy) nurses her spring cubs/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 1989/Film
Female grizzly and her cubs fish for salmon on the McNeil River/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwestern Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 1989/Film
A female grizzly bear and her cubs cross the McNeil River/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 1989/Film
A female grizzly rests on the banks of the McNeil River/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwestern Alaska/Early August 2002/Film
A large male grizzly after feeding on a salmon/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
An adult male grizzly shaking water off of his coat/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwestern Alaska/Early August 2002/Film
A large male grizzly bear stares into the camera/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
A female grizzly bear stands upright/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
Two subadult grizzly bears stand upright and play/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
Two grizzly bears stand upright and play in the river/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
Slow exposure of two grizzly bears fighting over a salmon in the McNeil River/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwestern Alaska/Early August 1989/Film
A large male grizzly by the name of Zygote swims toward the shore/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
A male grizzly pauses in its eating of a salmon//McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
A grizzly bear catches a salmon/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
A large male grizzly by the name of Zygote walks on the shore/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
Earl, a 25 year old blonde, male grizzly with no ears, a long scar running down his right cheek, stiff legged and arthritic and chunks of flesh ripped out of him /The Frankenstein of Grizzlies/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwestern Alaska/Early August 2002/Film
Slow exposure of grizzly bears fishing for salmon/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwestern Alaska/Early August 2002/Film
Pete Johnson, Todd Shorey, Bob Tourtelot and Refuge Manager Larry Aumiller and his daughter posing for a photo/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 2002/Film
Bill Watkins hanging with grizzlies/McNeil River/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Alaska Peninsula/Southwest Alaska/Early August 2002/Film - Photo by Bob Tourtelot
Bill Watkins underneath the cliffs/McNeil River State Game Sanctuary/Southwest Alaska/Alaska Peninsula/Early August 1989/Film - Photo by Dan Stillman

McNeil River Grizzly Bears & Experience

Gallery 1

Introduction: 

One of the things I wanted to achieve with this gallery was not only to depict the bears of McNeil but also the experience. 

I wanted to include the visitors and guides of McNeil from the trip: the hike to the falls, crossing Mikfik Creek, approaching the upper viewing pad, and how close some of the bears will come to the viewing pad. Nothing separates visitors from the bears. 

All human behavior is tightly controlled and everyone is restricted to the upper and lower viewing pads (lower one is: The Cave). Having predictable human behavior to the bears and limiting human numbers to just 10 people per day, allows for an incredibly personal and immersive experience. 

In addition to viewing large numbers of bears, one can hear the calls of gulls and eagles, the sound of the rushing river and the smell of decaying salmon. 

McNeil is the ultimate crash course in learning bear body language and behavior. For myself, it was the best wildlife viewing experience I have ever had. It is a wonderful experience of sensory overload.  

More information on McNeil can be found here: McNeil River State Game Sanctuary & Refuge.

Cover image is of Earl - The Frankenstein of Grizzlies. 

I am sure that some (or most) of you are asking: why did he post this old,  scarred up bear as his cover image? 

The vast majority of publications if not all them, when they post images of grizzly bears it is always of bears that are cute, cuddly, fully furred, without scars or are engaged in various behaviors or in spectacular settings. 

What these publications are missing is that those old and/or scarred bears represent the pinnacle of success within their natural environment. 

They have survived their cub-hood and time as subadults (no small thing). They have grown into adulthood, mated and/or have given birth to new generations of bears. 

Furthermore, they have battled over mates, fishing spots, carcasses, and protecting themselves from other bears. 

They have withstood the harshness of winters, survived the years where the berry crop has failed and/or where salmon runs have declined, potentially impacting their critical fat reserves. 

Additionally, they have survived trophy hunters and/or proposed development schemes that would decimate their habitat and/or encroach upon them (the proposed Pebble Mine is a great example). 

Every scar tells a story of their adaptability, survival and longevity. It is awesome in what these older bears have achieved in their lifetimes; achievements that are seldom recognized by people. 

When I first saw Earl back in 2002 at McNeil, he immediately resonated within me. Here was a 25 year old, blonde male bear that was scarred, missing his ears, had chunks of flesh ripped out of him, was stiff legged  and I assume, arthritic. 

He was glacially slow moving and his fishing for salmon would have tested the patience of a Buddhist monk. Yet, he was by far, my favorite bear from my 2002 trip to McNeil as I felt that he had the most character.  

We will never know the stories from those scars, but we can certainly imagine the hardships and battles that Earl and other old bears have lived through. 

He was the ultimate example of a successful, male grizzly. 

Three years later,  while reading an article on McNeil and in the article they gave the above descriptions and I knew exactly who they were talking about. It was Earl. 

They gave him the moniker: The Frankenstein of Grizzlies. 

Undoubtedly, this moniker had to do with his appearance but if one dives deeper, it is reflective of his success and longevity. 

In Denali, we have had some female bears that have made it into their early 30’s, but I am not aware of any male bear reaching such a ripe old age whether in Denali or elsewhere. 

I am sure it occurs but I would suspect that it is a rare occurrence.

Regardless, Earl survived at least to age 28, an awesome achievement. 

I wanted the “poster bear” for the McNeil gallery to reflect his achievements and longevity and be representative of all older bears. And of course, the goal of any young bear (whether knowingly or not) is to survive into old age. 

Consequently, this is why a photo of Earl graces the cover of the McNeil River Bears and Experience Gallery. 

Earl and the Battle Over a Salmon

One day, as we were sitting down at the upper and lower (The Cave) viewing pads, Earl slowly and in a stiff legged fashion walked by us heading to the river to fish. His focus was on the river while he passed just a mere 30 feet or so from us. 

He finally made it to the river and waded in, where he began to fish. His movements are achingly slow, and it seemingly took him forever to finally catch a salmon. Grasping the salmon in his jaws, he walked to shore and began to slowly climb up the embankment. Following him, is a smaller, and younger adult male bear who has thievery on his mind. 

Thievery happens all the time at McNeil and this younger bear has targeted.......Earl. Really, you really want to target Earl?  While Earl may be past his prime and he certainly isn't the largest or most dominant bear, every scar on Earl's body screams the story of his personality like a neon sign. 

Both bears pass by the viewing pads to our left, completely ignoring us. When they are roughly 70 feet from us the younger bear makes his move to steal Earl's salmon. In a flash that was too fast to track, Earl body slammed the other bear in a move that any pro wrestler would be envious of. The younger bear is on his back with all four legs in the air and Earl has grabbed him by the neck. 

The younger bear freezes all movements and Earl freezes all of his. There is this pregnant pause with Earl gripping this younger bears neck and then slowly releasing it and taking a step back. 

Earl allowed the younger bear to get up and amazingly after getting his ass kicked by this old, decrepit and Frankenstein of a bear, this young bear has the presence of mind to grab the salmon and run off with it. Earl didn't really react initially, and when he did, it was to briefly search for his now, long lost and long gone salmon. .

So, while Earl won the battle, he lost the prize.

Of Special Note: 

I took several images of this interaction but when I swiveled to photograph the battle scene I didn't have time to adjust the exposure. Consequently, the film images would come out way over exposed when I finally edited them. Because these film images were so over exposed, I threw them out. So unfortunately, there are no images of Earl and this other bear battling over this salmon. Yet, it is an unforgettable and awesome memory. 

McNeil River Bears 

Images from this gallery are from the two trips that I have made to McNeil River which is on the Alaska Peninsula. These two trips took place in 1989 and 2002 and was four days of absolute, ursine paradise for each trip. 

McNeil is known as having the world's greatest concentration of grizzly bears who come to the falls to fish for chum salmon. At the peak of the season (at least in 1989) the typical McNeil experience at the peak was to have anywhere from 40 to 60 bears on the river at any one time and 125 bears within a five mile radius of the falls. 

In 1989, there was a good mix of females with cubs, subadult bears as well as mature males. By 2002, this had changed to where it was primarily adult and subadult males with maybe three different females with cubs. The high count during my second trip was 38 bears. 

Only 10 permit winners are allowed to make the two mile walk to the falls each day, accompanied by two Alaska Fish & Game guides. While at the falls, visitors are restricted to the upper and lower (the Cave) viewing areas where they may spend up to eight hours viewing and photographing bears. 

Nothing separates visitors from the bears, although the bears are not allowed to walk through the viewing pads while visitors are there. That being said, they may be just few feet away. 

McNeil is a unique and perfect example of how people and bears can co-exist peacefully when people's behavior is managed and predictable to the bears. These bears have grown up (literally) learning that people are not a threat or benefit to them; consequently they go about their daily lives and generally ignore them. 

This gives visitors the amazing opportunity to view bears fishing, playing, fighting, nursing cubs, displacing one another or robbing salmon from one another, etc. It is the ultimate crash course in observing and learning bear behavior, body language and listening to vocalizations. There can be so much going on that it can be difficult to focus on just one bear. 

From my point of view, McNeil is the greatest wildlife spectacle that I have ever experienced. And the bears that I photographed in 1989 and 2002, have stayed with me to this day. From Teddy, Ted, Digit, Norma Jean, Earl, Zygote, etc they provided me with unforgettable memories and excitement. 

The Magic of McNeil 

McNeil is such a unique, rare and sacred place that under no conditions should any type of resource development occur that would impact these bears, their habitat or their numbers. Additionally, no state sponsored predator control should take place that would impact them, or liberalizing bear hunting seasons.

All efforts should be made to insure healthy salmon runs in the future and to minimize human impacts to the bears. At McNeil, the bears do come first and that is as it should be. If we wish to preserve these truly magical wildlife spectacles then we must do everything possible that we can to protect the bears, their habitat and their food resources.

In so doing, the magic of McNeil can continue long into the future giving visitors a spell binding and unforgettable experience and one that will rock their world for years to come. 

Equipment Used 

All of these images are scanned film images and both trips occurred before I had my full outfit of AF-S Nikon lenses.

The 1989 trip, I would have used an Olympus OM-4 camera with possibly a  manual Tamron lens. The equipment during this trip was more primitive as I was still in the process of learning and upgrading equipment. 

 In 2002, I would have used two Nikon F100  cameras/motor drives with a manual Tamron 80-200 mm F2.8 and a manual Tamron F4 400 mm lens with a Tamron 1.4 Teleconverter and a Gitzo G410 tripod with a Arca Swiss ballhead. 

Traveling to McNeil was quite literally a dream come true in becoming completely immersed in observing and photographing bear behavior in a very personal and intimate manner. 

If I were to return to McNeil in the future, I would not only be able to shoot still images but also take video and capture the sounds of the environment and the bear vocalizations themselves. This was something that I noticed on my previous trips that I wasn't able to do and wished that I could and that was to capture bear vocalizations. 

When I try to convey such vocalizations to others, such as a bear huffing, clicking its teeth, teeth/jaw popping, etc it always has the feel of something missing. This is one of those topics where trying to describe such vocalizations either verbally or in the written form to someone falls short, but if they could actually hear it for themselves, it resonates and creates understanding. 

Combine the audio of vocalizations with the video of their behavior and it creates greater understanding. 

Do I want to return to McNeil? Absolutely!!!

All the best. 

Bill 

Lastly, the following is a poem from Robert W. Stevens that was posted in the Cook Shack at McNeil that describes the McNeil experience. I wrote this down from my first trip in 1989. 

---------

March of the McNeil 

To the falls, to the falls, 

Where the rolling water calls,

Where the bear, the great bear,  

Take their salmon, with a flair, 

-----

Up the beach, up the beach, 

Where the grazing bear still reach, 

Where the spoor, the great spoor, 

Lies imprinted in the moor, 

-----

Cross the creek, cross the creek, 

Hope my rubber boots don't leak, 

Through the mud, through the mud, 

Left in Kamishak in flood, 

-----

Call a halt, call a halt, 

Where the fresh water reaches salt, 

Climb the bank, climb the bank, 

To wild flowers, rank on rank, 

-----

Up the trail, up the trail, 

With laggards in the tail, 

Keep the step, keep the step, 

Thinking "bear" will give us pep, 

-----

By the rock, by the rock, 

Hope my tripod stays on lock, 

Hoist my pack, hoist my pack, 

It keeps slipping on my back, 

-----

Through the bush, through the bush, 

Clapping hands to break the hush, 

For the bear, the great bear, 

May be lurking in a lair, 

-----

Comes the sound, Comes the sound, 

Of the waters rushing down, 

To the edge, to the edge,  

Sighting bears upon the ledge, 

------

To the pad, to the cave, 

Midst the bears - I feel so brave, 

Keep your place, keep your place, 

For the wilderness we face, 

------

Wondrous view, wondrous view, 

Leaping salmon, sky of blue, 

Great Brown Bear, great brown bear, 

Rushing waters, oh', so fair

-------

All the best: 

Bill Watkins