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Tank
Tank was one of the large males that appeared in Hallo Bay once the salmon run arrived in August. Walking down the beach we noticed a whole group of bears fishing, all of them standing and staring up stream waiting for fish to jump. When we arrived at the river Tank was at the head of the pack, and we were immediately taken with how incredibly wide he was. He was easily twice or even three times as wide as the younger males, and females. His broad shoulders led down to thick forelegs. He was a dark brown mixed with reddish hues and his head was blocky, and wide like his body. We noticed Paula and Racer behind Tank, who was now occupying the favorite fishing spot of Paula. Tank had the first view of any salmon swimming back out to sea (when acclimating to fresh water, the salmon will swim back and forth between the fresh water and the ocean’s salt water). He had the prime spot and was able to get the first pounce. The fish seemed to be jumping and flopping out of the shallow river every few minutes. They seemed more abundant than any other day so far! But Tank wasn’t chasing any of them. He stood, his massive legs grounded still in the water, and just stared at the fish flopping around right in his face. We couldn’t understand why he wasn’t fishing? The bears behind him, also hearing the fish flop and seeing their fins skitter across the surface of the water, were becoming visibly agitated. Paula paced around behind Tank, spotting each fish and her muscles automatically jerking her in the direction of the prey. But she would hesitate, and fail to run, since Tank stood between her and every fish.
It seemed like Tank passed up twenty fish before he finally came to life. Finally! A fish jumped 20 feet in front of him. He sprung off his back legs, leapt up into the air with his front legs splayed apart, and landed in a huge belly flop. The splash he created was massive. A wall of white drops of water flew into the air with a humungous splash. Tank’s whole body was engulfed in a wave that rocked the water around his body and even reached the edge of the river. It was an impressive, and comical, display but Tank didn’t manage to catch the fish. He continued to pass up fish after fish, and then haphazardly employ the belly flop method. It didn’t seem particularly effective, since by the time he flopped down into the water the salmon was long gone. We didn’t see he catch any fish this way. But it was interesting to see him make one particularly huge wave. As the wave surged back up from the river bottom, a handful of salmon were pulled to the surface by the wall of water and skidded away back upstream. Tank didn’t catch any of them. Eventually Paula had enough of this ineffectual male occupying “her” spot, and squandering the opportunities to eat that it presented. She walked right up to him and roared loudly in his face. Tank turned his head away from Paula, and silently stomped off. Within a minute, now perched at the head of the pack, Paula caught a fish.
© 2008 Jessica Teel |
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