Every year, the largest gathering of brown bears in the world occurs in Alaska’s McNeil River State Game Sanctuary. Between June and August the bears arrive at the river’s falls to fish for salmon.
For many years, people have been visiting this same spot, behaving in a consistent, predictable, manner so as to not spook the bears.
Human access to the park is limited, but every year a handful of lucky visitors are allowed to come and photograph the bear congregation at McNeil Falls.
The video below was filmed by Drew Hamilton, a tech worker at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game at the Sanctuary.
On this particular day, Drew was sitting in his camping chair when a big brown bear walked right up to him and calmly took a seat next to him.
I love how the bear calmly yawns and surveys the river below before sauntering off to join the other bears fishing.
What an incredible moment that must have been!