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The Canadian Pacific Coast.
A majestic, island-speckled coastline, home to the densest population of - ugh what's that smell?
Oh, oh no, somebody stepped on a dead fish over here.
It's not pretty.
Oh, there's full of eggs.
Oh, you can smell that.
I'm probably gonna smell like fish guts for days to come, it's gonna be great.
It may stink, but that's how you know that you're in beach bear country.
Hey, I'm Danielle Dufault and you're watching Animalogic.
A few weeks ago when we were filming Grizzlies out in the Rockies, we made what turned
out to be quite a controversial statement about Grizzly bears being the best bears.
Well, we heard your comments,
and so we thought we'd better check out that bear that many of you consider best.
The Black Bear.
We're heading out onto the water, just outside Tofino,
British Columbia, to try and see what a Black Bear has on the menu for breakfast.
While there is a huge variety of black bear subspecies,
from the champagne-coloured Spirit Bears, to the Cinnamon Bears,
to the ice-blue Glacier Bears, we thought we would visit the coolest members of clan-black bear.
The Beach Bears, or Coastal Black Bears.
We went out early in the morning, when the tide is low
and coastal bears come down to the beach to look for breakfast.
It didn't take long until we spotted something in the distance,
hopefully not another bear-looking rock.
We got a little closer and, luckily, it wasn't a rock.
It was one of the largest carnivores in North America.
Ah! We just spotted a bear.
He's just walking along the coast.
Right along the riverbank.
Big, it's a big bear.
Coastal bears are a subspecies of black bear.
Their range is relatively small, occupying most of the north and west parts of the island.
But in this small range, they've found paradise.
The reason for their success here is they've become master fishermen.
He found a big old rock and he's flipping it over looking for some breakfast.
Like other bears, Coastal Bears take full advantage of the salmon run in the fall.
But they have also learned to catch small fish and crustaceans caught in tide pools on the beach.
Most of a black bear's diet is vegetation, like berries and roots and leaves, but 15% of their
diet does need to be protein, and where they find that for the most part is down by the water here.
So they're looking for invertebrates, like barnacles and crustaceans.
He's probably having some some crab over there.
I'm a little jealous.
That's a good idea.
They're a lot stronger than they look, and they use their bulk to roll over
massive rocks looking for anything hiding underneath.
You can find these bears on the hundreds of islands around Tofino,
and they get around by swimming!
These coastal bears have evolved extra webbing in their paws to make their commutes a little easier.
Vancouver Island is home to the densest population of black bears in the world,
it actually has about 20,000 individuals living on the island.
It's the end of the fall, so coastal bears are rushing to
pack on the pounds before their winter hibernation.
They leave no stone unturned in their search for food, not even massive boulders.
In parts of their range, black bears are entirely nocturnal.
They're thought to do this to avoid confrontations with the larger and more aggressive brown bears.
But here on the island there are no brown bears,
so black bears are free to look for food any time they want.
We just spotted another bear on the coastline, we're gonna try and get in close.
We gotta be quiet.
Despite being the third largest terrestrial carnivores in North America,
they can be very skittish.
And they know to fear humans.
When we're around, even the sound of the waves
is enough to send them running back to the safety of the tree line.
After seeing them on the beach, we traveled inland to see them at their other favourite spot -
and it was a boneyard.
This riverbank is like a salmon graveyard, just strewn with bits and pieces and bones.
Pure carnage.
It's odour?
Well, rank would be putting it lightly.
This river here is just littered with fish that did not survive the spawning process.
Ugh, you can smell them.
Yeah, I can smell that.
Ugh, you can smell that.
Ugh, can you smell that?
That's fish.
Fish that are rotting, but also, fish that are reproducing.
It makes for, uh, quite the pungent smell.
I think I've stepped in so many rotting carcasses of fish
that I'm probably going to end up with maggots in my shoes, yum.
This is a good sign.
Some of the fish were clean to the bone and there was a good chance that bears were the culprit.
Oh yeah, we're getting really close to a black bear.
Look at this!
But here's some evidence that we're on the right trail.
There are fish heads and tails, little bits and pieces,
and these flies are cleaning up the job that's been left behind by a black bear.
In the back of this area over here you can see there's a pile of what looks like berries,
and that's what's been undigested and left behind by a bear.
Berry bear poop.
Every year, salmon come back from the ocean and swim up rivers to spawn and die.
This is the perfect spot to see them because the water slows down right along the bank here.
That's where the salmon like to come and take a little rest before they carry on upstream.
Oh, there he goes, there he goes!
Did you see that?
These salmon might smell, but they've actually achieved the ultimate goal for a salmon.
The last step in the salmon's life is to pass on their genes.
So they'll put everything they've got to swim upstream
into these river deltas and estuaries, where they'll lay their eggs, fertilize them, and die.
Millions of salmon can swim up a single river,
which gives predators a good chance to get some easy meals.
Walking along the river here feels pretty special
because I'm seeing all kinds of organisms gathered here for the exact same reason.
The gulls, the eagles, the anglers, and the black bears are all here to get their fill of salmon.
We got a tip that there's a mother and her cub who are fishing around this area.
We're really, really hoping that we might come across them.
And then, we spotted something across the bank.
What is that?
I think we found it!
I think there's a black bear up ahead.
Oh my god, there they are.
There's a mother and her cub.
This cub is a yearling.
She's about to go into her last winter with her mother.
Her mom is teaching her everything she needs to know to survive on her own,
including the best feeding spots.
Nobody goes to the buffet trying to slim down, let's be honest,
and this right next to me, is an all-you-can-eat salmon buffet.
Their strategy is quite simple.
Wade out into the freezing cold water,
and wait for a salmon to jump out of the river and into their mouths.
She's right down the riverbanks.
We're following along.
We have to be quiet.
There she is!
Though sometimes it's a bit easier to pick one up that's already died.
It's just, you know, less tasty.
Watching these bears just so deftly pick up these fish and carry them up the bank,
makes me think that they're kind of like giant raccoons on steroids.
More like Bear-oids!
Oh.
The yearling is waiting up in a tree, safe from harm's way,
as she watches her mama fish down the river.
Can you see that, the black bear just caught a fish.
She's tearing it apart, right behind me.
Wow, that's amazing.
And now it's the yearlings turn.
She makes her way down the riverbank and tries her paw at fishing.
She'll soon need to master this skill.
Do you see her?
Oh, here she comes.
She's coming down to the riverbank.
This yearling got lucky and made off with a salmon that's almost as long as she is.
Oh, she's got a massive salmon.
And off she goes into the woods with her prized fish.
This area has milder winters than most of the rest of the black bears range.
That means that they can afford to gorge for longer and spend less time hibernating.
And since they don't need to store as much fat reserves
they don't have to get as big as other black bears.
Though you wouldn't believe it if you saw one,
black bears are the smallest among the bears in North America.
But careful when you see one, they are gigantic.
The average black bear reaches about 150 kilos,
but the especially large males can reach all the way to 250 kilos.
The one that we just spotted, right over there on that other riverbank,
was probably closer to 250 kilograms.
The bears along this river are gorging themselves on as many salmon as they possibly can,
trying to put on the pound so that they'll have the energy to last
through their long slumber through the winter.
During this period they don't eat at all, and will lose up to 40% of their body weight.
Going into hibernation without enough fat reserves can be lethal.
It's especially crucial for the female black bears to put on a lot of weight in preparation
for their long hibernation, because it's during hibernation that they'll give birth to their cub.
A black bear's metabolic rate needs to slow way, way down for it to get through its hibernation.
Its heart rate, for example, goes from 50 beats per minute all the way down to 10.
The moment her cub have had their fill.
And just in time.
Out of the bush, a massive male emerges.
The riverbank is his.
A big black bear.
Oh yeah, take a look at that.
He confidently struts down to the water, and with almost no effort, catches a massive salmon.
He carries it up onto a log and devours it.
Unfortunately, as untouched as this river looks, it's become fairly well known to tourists.
Despite being king of the river, the presence of these tourists
has the bears very stressed out, and even the largest males scare easily.
Sadly, this means that for the bears, this bountiful river
may not be one that they will return to in the future, making their lives that much harder.
Fortunately, black bears are the most successful bears in North America.
They thrive in all sorts of habitats, and are a very versatile species.
Just please, leave them alone, and keep your distance, for your safety and theirs.
Remember, a fed bear is a dead bear.
Now that we've seen grizzly bears, coastal black bears,
spirit bears, and polar bears, we can finally rule on which bear is best.
Wait, what is that?
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where you can discover the true beauty of our planet.
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If you're interested in how we can make this world a better place, this is the best place to start.
Check out their new "Environment in the Arctic" playlist.
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So what should I talk about next?
Please let me know in the comments and be sure to
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Thanks for watching and see ya.
It was like Garfield went through here.
I want to see a black bear painted like Garfield.