Dr. Shellie

Having seen Grizzly Man, I knew it was perfectly possible to be eaten by bears, particularly at the end of the season when the salmon run was dwindling. And having read a news report or two about fathers who killed themselves and their entire families in plane crashes on the way home from summer vacation, I have some fear of small planes. Small planes, however, are the way to get around in Alaska, almost as much as a taxis in New York City. So I overcame my twin fears of small planes and bears and headed off to Pack Creek bear-viewing area on Admiralty Island. (On a floatplane, no less!)

As our plane landed on the water and coasted in to the beach, two rangers came up to meet us in a small, motorized boat. After paying $20 each for our bear permits, they explained the rules. Supposedly, these were habituated grizzly bears– used to the presence of humans. As long as we acted in the way that the bears expected humans to act, they would probably just ignore us. Visitors should store their food and scented items in the bear-proof storage boxes, eat lunch between two particular rock piles on the beach, and cross between beach and creek along the high-tide line. Off we went, toward the bears. I took comfort in the fact that the ranger carried a rifle. "Oh, don’t worry," he said. "The Forest Service requires us to carry these. But we haven’t ever had an adverse human-bear encounter here."

We crossed the beach, and there were the bears. Right where the creek ran into the ocean, they were standing in the water, catching salmon, and tearing them apart. The ranger set up a viewing scope from a nearby hill, and we watched in amazement. Just as predicted, the bears paid us no attention. Because the Pack Creek area has been closed to hunting since the mid-1930’s, the bears haven’t learned to fear humans– and the humans have no need to fear the bears.