Why Fat Bear Week Is About Weighty Issues

Fat Bear Week will soon begin. Between October 5 and October 11, each of us can vote for our favorite brown bear in Alaska’s Katmai National Park.

A lighthearted competition, the contest is also about some heavy tradeoffs.

Fat Bear Week

Four-time-champ, Otis won last year but he is aging. Seen recently, Otis (aka Number 480) was missing some teeth. His age is estimated at 25-27 years old.

Otis looked rather slim when seen at the beginning of the summer in 2021:

But after his weight gain, he could have topped 1200 pounds:

The contest began in 2014 to teach us a bit about ursine health. Just before temperatures drop below freezing and a 6-month hibernation is imminent, brown bears can eat over 100 pounds of salmon a day. Scientists are curious about why brown bears fare so well after such a long snooze. Their research relates to our cardiovascular health, obesity, space medicine, and bed-ridden patients.

If Holly returns, I will vote for her this year.

Our Bottom Line: Tradeoffs

In Alaska, the Biden Administration has been partially or entirely reversing President Trump’s EPA decisions. Whereas President Trump gave the go ahead for drilling, President Biden put it on hold. Saying that he was deciding among alternatives that ranged from some drilling to none, the Biden Administration is also in court trying to protect the Bristol Bay watershed from copper and gold mining.

An economist would say that because of scarcity, we have to make tradeoffs. While oil, gas, and mining development would have generated jobs and revenue, the sockeye salmon on which the brown bears feast, would have been devastated. Shown on a production possibilities graph, more of one item means less of another one. Below you can see that as you move along the curve, you sacrifice more minerals for more wilderness:

If indeed, the bear’s Katmai habitat is affected (I could not confirm it was), Otis, Holly, and their brown bear friends will have less food.

My sources and more: Several years ago, I learned about Fat Bear Week and am delighted to return (and vote). The explore website has all of the facts, links, and details on each bear. Meanwhile, the 2022 update is at WSJ and The Washington Post  and the Biden decisions are here and here.

Our featured image is sockeye salmon from the Bristol Watershed. Also please note that today’s post is an updated copy of what we wrote last year.