Fat Bear Week Tournament Getting Tense As We Enter The Quarter Finals
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Good news everybody, it's Fat Bear Week.
All summer, the bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve , Alaska, have been gorging themselves in preparation for a long winter's hibernation. Having successfully packed on the pounds, it's time for the public to celebrate their achievement.
Every year, as is tradition, the Internet votes for the bear they deem to be the fattest. Last year Beadnose (pictured below) won the honor of being crowned the fattest bear. Unfortunately, she hasn't been spotted in the park this year, so she won't be partaking in the competition. Will previous champions 747 or Chunk take her place? Only you can decide.
The competition takes the form of a knockout tournament, with two bears going head-to-head each round. You vote by giving a like to whichever bear you deem to be the biggest round boi.
The bears each have their own technique for the weight-gain competition.
"Today's first match-up features a nervous nelly vs. a cool customer. Known as the head-bobbing lip-fisher, 775 Lefty entertained many a Brooks Camp visitor with his fishing prowess," Katmai National Park and Preserve wrote on Facebook .
"775 Lefty didn’t settle for leftovers. His spot on the river fed him a slippery salmon buffet. Two-time Fat Bear Week champion, 480 Otis, gets his substantial size by practicing a 'move less, eat more' fishing technique. This zen master's famous figure has earn ed him this spot in the fat bear bracket for the 5th time."
Whatever methods they use, the bears need to gain a lot of weight if they want to survive the winter. In the fall, brown bears can eat up to 40 kilograms (90 pounds) of food each day , and weigh up to twice as much before hibernation as they do after. To give you a sense of that, here's a gif showing last year's winner.
If you think the ones you've seen so far are heffers, you are mistaken. Coming up in the next round of the tournament are some real chonks, as we meet some of the bears who have put on so much weight they have been seeded, like Serena Williams or Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, for being clear front-runners in the competition.
One to keep an eye on is bear 435, Holly, who will face off against 909 on Saturday, if this photo of her "beardonkadonk" is anything to go by.
This iframe is not allowed
rom the sound of what Alaskan bear-viewing guide Drew Hamilton told Mashable , she is the one to watch.
"You almost get the sense watching her that she’s getting fatter before your eyes," he told the website. "I watch bears professionally. I see more bears than just about anybody out there. This is next level."
Place your bets everyone, and head over to the Katmai National Park and Preserve Facebook page to watch the drama unfold.
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It's that time already?
My how time flies
I started packing on my winter weight...on top of the weight I packed on for last winter.
Seriously, tho. Did you take a look at the article? There's a video of one of the contestants that someone shot just after she woke up from last winter's hibernation. She is sooooooooo thin! But she's getting the weight back
I wish the image weren't so small, but I will with the guy on the bottom. "Party on Garth!"
That's the way to do it. Plop in a spot in the river, wait for the next salmon to come by.
Is that the belly-flop video? The thing that kind of disturbs me about that video is all the laughing humans. I think I like living (or at least not being mauled) too much to be hanging out at the river laughing at a bunch of grizzly bears.
We were staying in a cabin in the mountains once and mama black bear (much smaller than the brown grizzlies seen here, but still good sized) was on the other side of our front door one night. Literally a foot away from me separated only by the flimsy door. I about peed my pajamas.
Flimsy door better than no door. I think I would have reacted the same way...haha
People are idiots. Like the ones that think they can walk up and pet a bison.
I don't think I have ever seen a bear. I know they are around in some places just never have.
Addendum, I just saw on our fisheries and wildlife, they estimate about only 50 bears in the whole state. Not that many.
I have seen several gators.
I'm fixing to go fishing/camping at a lake that has gaters next week.
If you scan at night with a light you can see their eyes glow.
Awesome
A funny story
The one time I went out there we were sleeping in a tent. We were pretty close to the water's edge and the waves kept slapping the sea wall. Well, I got a little stoned and a little drunk and thought those waves were alligators slapping their tails on the sea wall.
People can hunt them at certain times of the year here. I have seen people that slowly ride at night shining a spotlight on the banks of the river looking for their eyes.
Maybe spotting one wouldn't be a good idea.. haha
Who would be stupid enough to molest an alligator?
You'd be the one molested
I guess the ones molesting the gators ended up as lunch.
Haha. Almost looks like the bears waiting in the river for a salmon to come by.
I don't think I will show off my smart mouth to that young woman
But they're always polite.
This guy. I think he's sayin' "take it all, bitch!"
Oh Florida...
Oh. Dear. Gawd. Multiple times a day???? What the fuck??!?
Then there's word on the street that some fella couldn't stand it if he made one misjudgment when cutting tile for his bathroom. He was a novice flipper and each time he screwed up, he'd smash the remaining tiles out of anger and frustration. Each time he'd go to Home Depot and buy more. He fessed up to smashing tiles and was contrite about not being able to control himself. "It's alright, buddy," the HD guy told him. "We have more people in here for a wrecked tile dysfunction than you would think."
Cum on, cobalt.
You're not the only multiorgasmic person.
Here's my card:
That gator must have had quite a body.
She was Simply Irresistible.
I can always count you guys to make a seed go there
that poor dumb alligator....
Crocodile tears?
I think you have to like Lefty's chances. That is one corpulent bear.
It looks so cuddly, doesn't it?
Until it wipes you off the map with one its paws....
Although, I think Grazer is the cutest with her fuzzy round ears.
Nature has a sense of humor, lol
It looks like all that salmon flavored cheesecake did the trick.
Ya know....I'm getting an idea....
I read an article about these people that bought what they thought was a rare dog breed in China. Took it home and then kept wondering why it just kept on growing and would stand up on its back legs...
Seriously?
Yeah...only it wouldn't be sweet. When Mr Giggles smokes a salmon we always make a pate with the salmon and cream cheese. I think you could make a "cheesecake" with Ritz crackers on the bottom of the pie plate, fill in with the pate, then layer more Ritz crackers over the top. It would be more like a dip than a pie, but I think it would work and taste good
I guess it's up to me to meme the obvious:
And this Barr is enormous!
Are you channeling Davey Crocket of Daniel Boone?
Didn't those guys shoot bears?
Read your contract. It's part of your job description...so deliver regularly, or else.
Or else what?
You may be right.
I searched Google images for "NewsTalkers". Your avatar, and many other NewsTalker avatars, are included there there. My avatar is not there. One of my memes showed up though.
I had to look. haha
I just typed in Newstalkers and hit images. Cobalt showed up on the first couple of lines.
I finally showed up way down, about a quick article I did on the Blue Angels being in town.
She was also the most recognizable person on NewsVine.
Cobalt even came in second in Monopoly's beauty contest.
Second prize? What...are they blind?
Ivanka sucked off all of the judges so she could cum in first.
Or else...or else... Well crap, I don't know. I was trying to sound like a bad-ass bossy-bitch so Al would continue entertaining the masses here at NT. I suck at the bad-ass bossy-bitch thing.
that's a good thing
I did, too. Saw some avatars I haven't seen in a while. Got a smidge peeved when I came across this nightmare. Didn't know he was still peddling his nonsense.
Just when you think you forget about some....
That'll keep al entertaining the masses.
I too suck at being the bad-ass bossy-bitch thing. I take the passive "I intend to abuse your kind, trusting nature for the sake of my own moderate, short-lived amusement."
You mean "Mr. I Hate Gays (Btw Do You Have A Brother?)." Holy shit, that guy is gayer than a twirler in the pride parade! [Thank you, Will and Grace.]
I specialize in lessons on how to be a Bad-Ass Bossy-Bitch Thang.
Yeah, but you're nice about it. Kinda like when you say to people "you're okay except for that constant inhaling and exhaling shit you do."
Those are a few of my favorite things - bad ass bossy bitch Ms. Thang,
'I did, too. Saw some avatars I haven't seen in a while. Got a smidge peeved when I came across this nightmare. Didn't know he was still peddling his nonsense'
Nightmare is right. What an odd duck.
Awww. Little do you know that when you're not looking, I stare at you like I stare at salted caramel cheesecake.
Seems that the park and Otis have a long relationship....
I'm going with Otis.
A bear in Alaska is now famous - and he probably has no idea why.
This week the Katmai National Park Service declared a brown bear named Otis to be the fattest bear caught on camera. The park decided with a Facebook competition after allowing visitors to vote on a series of photos of some of its resident bears. Otis's actual weight, however, remains a mystery.
"We don't have a scale quite big enough," Anela Ramos, a representative for the Katmai National Park, told The Dodo about the roughly 20-year-old bear. "But we estimate about 1,000 pounds, give or take."
The average weight for a male brown bear is around 700 pounds .
A half-ton grizzly bear
He gets the right of way
Otis flunked out of Weight Watchers.
Apparently more than once.
Like a fart is just a poop honkin' for right-of-way...
How can you get so fat eating fish? That's it ... I'm sticking to my donut diet.
They supplement with the occasional fatty human
You know what they say. Just have to be able to run faster than the guy next to you.
Where does a 1,000 pound bear sleep? . . . . . .
wherever he wants
Krispy Kreme donuts only.
If I look out my front door across the lake, I can see the back facade of a Krispy Kreme from my house. It's like the house was meant for me to buy.
He can have allll the room he wants.
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