August 13 to 14 - Wrangell/Anan Wildlife Observatory

August 13, 2021

We took a tour to Anan Wildlife Observatory through Alaska Vistas with owner Sylvia at the helm and Bruce as our guide. Even though we had drizzle off and on it was still an excellent tour. Sylvia stopped at various sites along the way sharing various bits of history and information about: Deadman Island, seals, ancient fish trap remnants, Dalls porpoises, and landslides. The ride on the jet boat was fast, at time making around 35 mph. Our arrival was easy as Sylvia beached the bow of the boat allowing us to all step off onto the beach.

Looking around the area we spotted several bald eagles in the trees and partially eaten fish on the beach – signs of the feeding activity taking place at this spot. As we walked the Anan path to the waterfall, we learned that Ronald and Nancy Regan had visited here, and Nancy had championed funds to improve the path as she had slipped at one spot. As we meandered past the lagoon and reached the foot of the falls, we came across a brown bear (grizzly) and cub grazing across the river. In the lagoon, we could see an abundance of fish which would be the source of food for the eagles, in-coming seals, and bear.

When we arrived at the observation platform, we were astounded to see the number of black bears that were walking about and eating fish that they were catching in the falls. They seemed to stake out their spot and just keep catching and eating the fish, sometimes only the roe and brains, discarding the rest of the fish.

We dropped down into the observation blind, which placed us near the water edge and across from many of the bear coming out of the rocks. This provided a fantastic viewing plus an additional bonus – we had a bear climb the structure right under our feet – only the floorboards separating us!

It was a long day, but definitely a treat to visit the Anan Wildlife Observatory!