Bears?

[llarsen]

Planning our first cruise to Alaska.

Which month do you have more of a chance to see bears and salmon...in August or September?

Also, if going in August would you choose early or late August for weather and wildlife?

Thanks!

[rkacruiser]

Being in Alaska in late July, early August, for me, has been the best time to view the salmon runs.  But, seeing bears "fishing"?  I am unsure that the bears would be doing this in areas where the tourists are likely to be.  Some may be; but, not the numbers of what one sees on the webcams from those areas, I doubt.  

 

On 1/9/2022 at 3:21 PM, llarsen said:

if going in August would you choose early or late August for weather and wildlife?

 

I would choose early August.  

[SightCRR]

Seeing bears in Alaska is no easy task. You have to be lucky and good. Don't expect to see any from the ship or walking tours of the cities. Being on a tour is a requirement. In ISP we have seen one on the beach during whale watch and zero on bear viewing tour. In Juneau we saw one on the bus to Mendenhall glacier from the bus. One on the rental car drive to Carcross from Skagway. Almost all were black bears or couldn't tell black or brown. Some have reported seeing them on Ketch hiking tour. If you really want bears pick your dates carefully and fly to Katmai from ANC. With typical cruise chances are Slim to none and Slim just left. I am assuming you don't want the zoo type viewing. Look for crewnews reports on the hiking tour for info but I can't recommend it since I have not been on it but plan to next time we are in Ketch. Any that you see will be black bears. 

I also forgot about fly in from Ketch.

Here is more info on hiking tour: 

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by SightCRR

[Bearvet]

In 2018, we did a float plane trip to Anan Creek Observatory while in Ketchikan. It was early July, so the salmon had just started running. This was a highlight of our trip to Alaska! Here are 2 websites that indicate where and when to see bears fishing:

https://www.icruise.com/blog/the-best-time-of-year-and-top-locations-for-bear-viewing-on-a-cruise-to-alaska.html

https://www.travelalaska.com/Planning/Tips/Where-are-the-best-places-to-see-bears-in-Alaska.aspx

 

This was truly the experience of a lifetime! If you are at all interested, do it!!!

[Glaciers]

If you’re unable to do a dedicated bear viewing trip you could look at Herring Cove, just 8 miles south of Ketchikan. It can be accessed by car rental or cab.  Problem is that the bears usually frequent the creek in the morning and evening.  It is also near a residential area will very limited parking.  Kind of a “poor man’s” bear viewing op but good filler if you have the time and transportation.

https://www.experienceketchikan.com/bear-viewing-in-alaska.html

[travelingman]

We did our Alaska cruise in May.  Were always on the look out for bears but were not making special trips to find them.  We did a driving trip (rental car) from Skagway to Carcross to Emerald Lake (Yukon Territory).  On the way up we saw 2 bears eating dandelions along side the road on the same side we were. on (other side of the road barrier though).  We stopped for a little bit along side the road with a number of other cars to watch them.  They pretty much ignored all of us.  On the way back there was 1 bear  again on the same side we were on.  He/she was also on the other side of the road barrier.  We pulled over on the side of the road to watch.  After a few minutes the bear crossed the barrier; came over to the front of the car and checked it out.  It then came over to the driver's side; stood up on the side of the car; looked at me; got back down; rambled across the street and over the road barrier and into the woods.

All this is to say, just like whales, you never know when you will see one.  That is, unless you take one of the tours to the bear country when they are feeding on the spawning salmon.

 

Stan

[urbanhawk]

Travelingman-just  out of curiousity were the bears you  saw, black bears, or  brown/ grizzly bears? Either way,  I would have been scared of a bear looking in the window at me.

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, urbanhawk said:

Either way,  I would have been scared of a bear looking in the window at me.

 

I wouldn't be too fond of that either!  

[travelingman]

7 hours ago, urbanhawk said:

Travelingman-just  out of curiousity were the bears you  saw, black bears, or  brown/ grizzly bears? Either way,  I would have been scared of a bear looking in the window at me.

 

Were black bears.

 

Stan

[llarsen]

Thank you everyone.

I keep seeing photos (Alaska travel promo photos) of brown bears on a waterfall catching salmon.

We booked our cruise for early August and there is a Black Bear tour available.

I would really love to see the big bears on the falls, but have a feeling those advertising photos are somewhere else in Alaska and not on the typical cruise excursion.

 

[Crew News]

2 hours ago, llarsen said:

Thank you everyone.

I keep seeing photos (Alaska travel promo photos) of brown bears on a waterfall catching salmon.

We booked our cruise for early August and there is a Black Bear tour available.

I would really love to see the big bears on the falls, but have a feeling those advertising photos are somewhere else in Alaska and not on the typical cruise excursion.

 

Those photos are of the Brooks Falls bears snatching salmon in September and Brooks Falls is accessible only via seaplane, not cruise ships.   You can watch the grizzly bears on live webcam by Googling "Brooks Falls Bears," in September.

 

Seeing black bears in Alaska is a hit or miss proposition in any months other than July and September salmon seasons.

[urbanhawk]

On 1/13/2022 at 7:13 PM, travelingman said:

 

Were black bears.

 

Stan

I'm glad to know they (only) were black bears, as grizzlies can be quite aggressive.

[Northern Aurora]

15 hours ago, llarsen said:

Thank you everyone.

I keep seeing photos (Alaska travel promo photos) of brown bears on a waterfall catching salmon.

We booked our cruise for early August and there is a Black Bear tour available.

I would really love to see the big bears on the falls, but have a feeling those advertising photos are somewhere else in Alaska and not on the typical cruise excursion.

 

 

Read about the brown bears at Katmai National Park and Preserve.  Yes -- not on the typical cruise ship excursion since this park is near King Salmon.

[llarsen]

On 1/14/2022 at 10:15 AM, Crew News said:

Those photos are of the Brooks Falls bears snatching salmon in September and Brooks Falls is accessible only via seaplane, not cruise ships.   You can watch the grizzly bears on live webcam by Googling "Brooks Falls Bears," in September.

 

Seeing black bears in Alaska is a hit or miss proposition in any months other than July and September salmon seasons.

Thank you! 

[diesel1973]

 

Another area to see bears is on the Kenai Peninsula in Cooper Landing. You can either hike to Russian River Falls or walk the path along the Russian River. They are more common during the Salmon runs.

[dfilpus]

On our May Alaska cruise/land tour, we saw bears in three different locales. We saw Black bears from the tour bus from Skagway into British Columbia and Yukon. We saw Coastal Brown Bears from the cruise ship on the shore of Glacier Bay. We saw Grizzly Bears from the tour bus in Denali. Your luck may be different. Binoculars helped, especially in Glacier Bay.

[5waldos]

On 1/14/2022 at 10:51 PM, urbanhawk said:

I'm glad to know they (only) were black bears, as grizzlies can be quite aggressive.

We also saw bears eating dandelions by the side of the road. This was in early May so the bears (grizzlies) were just coming out of hibernation. They were quite uninterested in us- and we were only about 10 foot away- but truckers use their horns to scare them off so that they don't wander into the road. 

[NikiPinkston]

If your ship is stopping in Sitka, they have a refuge for orphaned brown & black bears with guided tours, talks & a raised viewing platform called the "Fortress of the Bears."   Not exactly in their natural habitat, but it sounds like it's worth a visit.

http://www.fortressofthebear.org/

We have seen eagles (last August, right in downtown Ketchikan), but we also plan to visit the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka if it's open the day that we're there on our cruise this coming May.

https://alaskaraptor.org/

Hope that helps!

 

[snowmc]

Our very first trip to Alaska, we were on the bus heading to Seward.  Just outside of Anchorage, there is a stream where combat fishing was occurring.  There was a momma bear and her two cubs at the top of the stream....didn't bother the fisherman at all!

 

Another visit, in Ketchikan, we had police stop us from walking down a street...there was a bear raiding trashcans.  You never know where you are going to see them!