A Brief Piece on Bears and Salmon
Bears have a natural tendency to load up on salmon and gain fat by design. This built-in storage prepares them for winter, when food becomes scarce. The accumulated fat helps preserve energy and maintain body warmth during the colder months.
When a brown bear catches a salmon, it typically begins by eating the skin, then the brain, and sometimes the eggs. After consuming these high-energy parts, the bear often leaves the remainder of the fish and returns to the river to catch another. On average, brown bears abandon roughly half of the salmon they capture each year.
Although this behavior may appear wasteful, it is actually efficient. Obtaining food is not limited to catching it; it also involves processing, consuming, and digesting it. During the salmon spawning season, fish are abundant. In this context, eating an entire salmon is not always worth the time and metabolic effort required for digestion.
Brown bears therefore prioritize the most nutrient-dense components, skin, brain, and eggs, which provide the highest fat and energy return for the least effort. The remaining portions, which contain comparatively less fat, offer diminishing returns.
Importantly, what is left behind supports the ecosystem. The carcasses provide nutrients for birds, fish, insects, and plants, contributing to a broader cycle of energy transfer within the environment.
Next time you eat salmon, like I did today, you might think about this. Who knows -you may have more in common with the brown bear than you realize.
Stay curious.
-Pal Ronnie
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