Wildlife
Anan Creek Black Bears: 4 Live Cameras — Tongass Forest
Four cameras on a prime fishing hole in the Tongass Forest, Alaska. Waiting on the bank, wading in, lying up in a cave — every black bear fishes differently.
What you can see
Anan Creek runs through the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska. Four cameras face the fishing hole where the bears gather, so you can watch the same spot from across the creek, from directly above and from the forest side.
Black bear 1 looks straight at the fishing hole. Some bears carry their catch off into the forest; others eat it on the bank where they stand. Bald eagles, ravens and crows join the same table.
Black bear 2 (fishing styles) is the view where the differences show. Waiting on the bank, wading out to where the salmon are thickest, lying in a cave and taking fish as they pass — each bear has its own method, and the best places are fought over. Bald eagles, ravens and otters come too, and in some years a wolf has appeared.
Fishing hole 4 looks down on the hole from directly above. Mothers sometimes send cubs up a tree overhead for safety, and bears will queue in a line waiting their turn.
The forest-side view catches bears coming to check whether hole 4 is free, and bears carrying salmon back into the forest to eat. Some settle on the stump beside the deck.
Open all four at once and you can watch a single bear move from screen to screen. That is only possible because these are four angles on one place.
Cameras you can watch now: 4
All 4 are live video. Tap one to open it in the camera list.
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Live video, July-August
Anan Creek black bears 1 (Tongass)
Alaska, Wrangell · Wildlife · River
A camera on a prime fishing spot where bears gather. Some carry the fish back into the forest, others eat right there on the bank. The operator says bears begin arriving in June, peak from July through August, and are sometimes seen in early spring or as late as October. Bald eagles, ravens and crows share the feast.
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Live video, July-August
Anan Creek black bears 2 (fishing styles)
Alaska, Wrangell · Wildlife · River
Waiting on the bank, wading out to where the salmon are thickest, sitting in the cave for fish to swim past: this angle shows how differently each bear fishes, and how they jockey for the good spots. Bears peak from July through August. Bald eagles, ravens and otters come too, and wolves have been seen over the years.
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Live video, July-August
Anan Creek fishing hole 4
Alaska, Wrangell · Wildlife · River
Looking down on a fishing hole where bears gather. Mothers sometimes send their cubs up the tree above it for safety, and bears will line up and wait their turn. They arrive from June and peak from July through August. Bald eagles, ravens and crows join in, which is much of what makes Anan Creek so busy.
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Live video, July-August
Anan Creek, the forest side
Alaska, Wrangell · Wildlife · Nature
Bears coming and going: checking whether fishing hole 4 is free, or heading into the forest with a salmon in their mouth. Some like to lounge on the tree stump near the deck. They arrive from June, peak from July through August, and turn up as early as spring and as late as October.
When to watch
July and August are the peak for all four. The provider says bears start arriving in June, are most numerous in July and August, and are sometimes visible in early spring or in October.
The offset is 17 hours in summer. Local 08:00 is 01:00 the next day in Japan and local 17:00 is 10:00. So the Japanese small hours through the morning are the Anan Creek day. Open them in the Japanese evening or night and it is still the previous night there.
Southeast Alaska has long days in July and August, light from early morning until late, which keeps the picture usable in Japan from the small hours into the early afternoon.
It is a wet place. The Tongass is temperate rainforest, and there are days when the picture goes milky with rain. The bears fish in the rain anyway.
If it isn't showing
The Alaskan brown bears and sockeye are on Brooks Falls Bears and Salmon, five cameras. Katmai waits above a waterfall for leaping fish; Anan wades into a shallow creek. Same pairing of bear and salmon, completely different picture.
All four also appear on the United States page. How to read national forest and park cameras is in US national park cameras; river cameras are under River and animals under Wildlife.
To pick an hour by the time difference, see Which cameras are in daylight now.
Where to find Anan Creek Black Bears
Agencies publishing the cameras on this page
- explore.org (Deep links and embeds OK, no image reuse) — Official site
The footage belongs to each agency. This site is an unofficial guide, and each sample frame was copied once per camera under that agency's terms of use.