Otis Fishing Report for August 23, 2023: If you were maybe thinking that we have magic powers and can see what Otis is up to when he’s not on cams, we’re sorry to disappoint. As far as we can tell, he wasn’t seen today. There was a possible sighting on the Lower River, but we’ve not been able to confirm. So our count for August 23 is 0 Fish.
But it’s not all sad! If Otis was in the Lower River, and we believe he was, then he was munching on spawned salmon and scraps, and there’s no doubt he had a ful-FILLING day. 🙂
Plus, it’s a good day to share a stats update!
First and foremost, don’t let “No Fish” days worry you — the workbook is set up with calendar dates, and each day Otis isn’t at the Falls, is a “No Fish” day. Like today, it doesn’t mean Otis didn’t eat — it means we didn’t see him eat. Plus the calendar starts the date the cams go live and ends in October — No Otis = No Fish Day.
Max Fish is the highest fish count of all days counted; Max High Grade is the same for high-grades.
On calories, we’ve used 4500 calories per fish for 2 years. This year, by three reports including Alaska Department of Fish & Game, the average size of fish was reported over 5 lbs., and we witnessed huge 2XL and 3XL fish. So we bumped the calories up to 5000.
Scraps, High Grades, and DOAs are just numbers we sort of pulled out of the air around our workstation. 😉 “DOAs” are what you’re going to be seeing more of in upcoming weeks — spawned salmon.
The table shows the times of day Otis catches his fish. The 12:00 a.m. line calculates the fish caught between 12:00 and 1:00 a.m. Katmai time, and the 1:00 o’clock hour and so on.
And we think the rest is self-explanatory, but if you have questions, you know where to comment. 🙂
Until tomorrow, sending wishes for fishes, scraps, high-grades, and DOAs (but no pirates)! ♥
And here’s a snap of Otis from Brooks Falls cam because what’s an Otis Fishing Report with a snap of Otis! ♥
Bear cam images in this post are copyright National Park Service and/or Explore.org
Congratulations on an Outstanding scientific study of fish consumption by a much “Better than Average Bear.” I found the layout easy to follow and appreciated the explanation of “No Fish Days,” as well as counting only the ones SEEN. It would be hard, I think, to speculate how many calories consumed while off-camera, tho it’s good to remember there’s still calories out there that are easily consumed. It’s also great that the fish are BIGGER this year. Thanks for this!! Well Done.
You’re very welcome, Patricia, and thank you so much for your nice comment! There are definitely good eats off camera. We see a tiny part of the bears’ world, and Brooks is a small part of Katmai. I was reading katmai is more than 4 MILLION acres. Thats a lot of fishing spots!!