wltm fat bears
September 26, 2020 12:26 PM   Subscribe

Yes bear lovers, it's that time of year again. Prepare yourselves for Katmai National Park and Preserve's Fat Bear Week 2020!

This will be the 6th year of the chonkiest, chubbiest competition out there, where bear fans are encouraged to vote for your favorite fluffy butterballs as they chomp their way to winter pudginess (note: this year voting will be moving away from FB to the explore.org site).

If the idea of staring at lots of fat bear bottoms has got your inner grizzly growling why not meet this year's champions (including last year's winner Holly) and download a copy of the bracket to fill out! For those who want to follow minute-by-minute updates, you can also watch the bears competing live every day via the Brooks Falls river cam, but don't forget the dedicated humans behind the glorious footage.

Oh, and don't forget to collect your 'I voted' sticker and, if you can, please consider supporting Katmai's important research and conservation with a donation as they continue this valuable work.

Fat Bear Week previously on the blue:
FBW 2019
FBW 2018
posted by fight or flight (22 comments total) 24 users marked this as a favorite
 
I had no idea that bears' fur changes color over the seasons!
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:45 PM on September 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


One of the contestants is named Chunk and that's just the perfect name.
posted by tommasz at 1:11 PM on September 26, 2020 [4 favorites]


WHERE IS WAYNE BROTHER
posted by Going To Maine at 1:12 PM on September 26, 2020


Gotta load up on your Omega 3s for the winter.
posted by Fupped Duck at 1:27 PM on September 26, 2020


I found this post disappointing for a very gay reason.

But actual bears are lovely, too.
posted by sonascope at 1:54 PM on September 26, 2020 [31 favorites]


I love that the bear in Katmai Conservancy's logo is very rou md.
posted by scruss at 2:10 PM on September 26, 2020 [3 favorites]


I am looking forward to October 2, when Fat Bear Week will overlap with Flat Fuck Friday.
posted by stannate at 2:21 PM on September 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


I love that the bear in Katmai Conservancy's logo is very rou md.

Charles Bearkley, the Round Mound of Salmon Rebound
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 2:30 PM on September 26, 2020 [1 favorite]




Otis, you fat, magnificent chunk of bear.
posted by azpenguin at 11:29 PM on September 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


Happy to see Holly and her cub!! Glad to know there's bears obliviously and happily being bears deep in the wilderness despite all the human bullshit going on.
posted by zdravo at 8:55 AM on September 27, 2020 [3 favorites]


I'm glad to see bears flourishing at Katmai.

I'm worried for our local bears. I am in a different part of Alaska and locally our bears are a different species, but in this part of southeast Alaska (I'm probably 750+ miles away from Katmai) we had a record-setting rainy summer and the lack of sunshine resulted in a very poor berry harvest. We also had poor and late salmon returns this summer and consequently our bears have not had their usual opportunity to chonk up.

Usually by this time of the season most of the bears I see have attained a healthy (for them) waddling weight but the bear I encountered on Friday night (a yearling or possibly two-year-old who had treed himself to avoid hikers with a small dog and then was waiting for the coast to clear before descending) was way too skinny-looking for September.
posted by Nerd of the North at 1:34 PM on September 27, 2020 [2 favorites]


This is my life now. Say goodnight to my boyfriend on Zoom. Go say goodnight to fat bears.
posted by jessamyn at 5:02 PM on September 29, 2020 [3 favorites]


The fun begins today!

Here's a trailer and some more details to whet your appetite for voting later on.
posted by fight or flight at 5:06 AM on September 30, 2020 [1 favorite]


I just remembered to see if this was on MeFi. I don’t see the sliders linked yet, and they are are my favorite part of the site.

I have been having my (Alaskan) students do a Zoom poll at the beginning my class everyday to help me make a decision (and it’s an easy thing to talk about/build community over, any port in a 2020 storm). Yesterday’s matchup, 812 vs. 747 was very tough for them. They felt that 812 should get a Most Improved Award, but ultimately went for 747 because, as one student said, “it seems unfair to punish him for really keeping up with his conditioning in the off-season.” I am still laughing about that.
posted by charmedimsure at 12:58 PM on October 3, 2020 [4 favorites]


Oh wow, charmedimsure, thank you for the sliders. Holly's cub is a particular joy-- she's grown such a fluffy coat.

(I reckon Chunk will probably win over Grazer tomorrow-- good bear though she is--, setting us up for a true heavyweight championship final.)
posted by Pallas Athena at 12:00 PM on October 4, 2020


It's the final day! Chunk will face off against the mighty 747 -- who will win? It's for you to decide!

(#teamchunk tho)
posted by fight or flight at 9:21 AM on October 6, 2020


This is making me aware of my own uses of fat, thicc, and chonk.

32 Chunk is more of a fat bear than 128 Grazer, but Grazer is definitely more chonk (and I would say the absolutest unit), while 909 or 151 Walker is the most thicc.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:33 AM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]


Personally I like Chunk for his approachability as much as his big round tummy. Boy knows how to relax and play as well as work. That's a candidate I can get behind (and cuddle, if he didn't tear off my arms first).
posted by fight or flight at 10:02 AM on October 6, 2020


Sorry, Chunk fans, 747 has been crowned the extremely deserving winner. My 7th grade girls were not able to look past Chunk’s defeat of Holly, and I hope they are as pleased as I imagine they are.
posted by charmedimsure at 8:37 PM on October 6, 2020 [3 favorites]


Sorry, Chunk fans, 747 has been crowned the extremely deserving winner. My 7th grade girls were not able to look past Chunk’s defeat of Holly, and I hope they are as pleased as I imagine they are.

No wonder online searches for "schadenfreude" spiked 30,500% this week.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:41 PM on October 6, 2020


No wonder online searches for "schadenfreude" spiked 30,500% this week.
🐻 Literally cannot imagine any other possible reason. Is there....something else going in your life besides fat bears? Certainly there is not in mine. 🐻
posted by charmedimsure at 1:44 AM on October 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


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