The salmon are back, and so are the black bears

by on 21 Sep 2025

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It's been a really strong salmon run for many rivers on Vancouver Island and the black bears are showing how successful they've been with their feasting by their body condition. It's only mid-September, arguably around 2 months from hibernation time, and they are in excellent condition. Excitingly, there are a few more late season salmon runs coming to the river and I wonder just how big these beautiful creatures will get.

Camera: NIKON Z 8
Focal: 300 mm
Shutter speed: 0.000625 sec
Aperture: f/ 2.8

tagged: black bear river salmon stream fall autumn colours fishing ursus americanus vancouver island port alberni park provincial stamp british columbia wildlife healthy fat big animal mammal black_bear american_black_bear carnivores fluvial_landforms_of_streams nature_reserve