Motif: Lunging for Lunch

I like the water sloshing around. I'm not really sure what's going on tho', but that's probably just me.

Nice water movement Tim, but what on earth is the bear doing? is he just laying in the water and hoping for a fish to jump into his mouth? or is he jumping about? Hard to tell!

Great water action Tim.

Tim,

Took me awhile to work out it's a bear. Nice one m8t.

Tim, This bear looks more intent on playing in the water instead of being in dire need for lunch, sort of like a well-fed dog out for a romp.

Great action here Tim, both the bear and the water... Whats the success rate on getting fish like this? Thanks for sharing..

Dave and Carol- the brown bear is lunging toward a fish that can't been seen. If I recall correctly, the water was up to his shoulders when he was on all 4 legs. The water was a bit too deep and the fish were too fast for the bears under those circumstances.

I don't recall any bears catching fish with the lunge technique, although I'm sure it would work sometimes.

I think this is the bear known as Elvis. He hung around in this part of the river, just below the falls, most of the time. He was also the only bear that would consistently stick his head under water and watch for fish. He would leave his ears above water while doing this- a humorous scene. He was one of the most successful bears at catching fish using that technique.

The 2 most popular techniques were just standing still and waiting for a fish to appear within grabbing range or waiting for a fish to try to make it up the falls and then grab it. In shallow water, the bears would try to chase the fish into shallower water, then grab them.

The other proven technique was to be a bully. There were several very battle scared bears that employed this method. They hung around waiting for another bear to haul one in, then they moved in. More often than not, the other bear lost the fish. But if the fish was in or near water, and still alive, it got away. The aggressive bears probably got their stolen meal about 50% of the time.

Thanks Tim for the excellent explanations of the different techniques, its a lot clearer now! I guess we have only seen the usual shots of the bear standing at the top of the leap and waiting for fish to leap up towards them.

To me it feels as though the bear just plopped down in the water and is feeling around for fish. An interesting shot, in that it takes a second to realize it's a bear.

Love that water color, and the fact that there's nothing but water all around.

-Noel