I was saddened to hear, just a couple of days ago, of the passing of the Hallo Bay Wilderness Bear Camp owner and Naturalist, Clint Hlebechuk. I have been to the Hallo Bay camp may times and always had a wonderful time and captured thousands of images of the wonderful brown bears of Katmai NP (and also a few other interesting critters, like river otters, grey wolves, moose, bald eagles, and more).
My condolences to his wife/Naturalist-Guide, Simyra. Simyra is a first-rate bear guide and is known to bear fanatics all over the world. (Note: if you happened to watch PBS’ special “Wild Alaska” (live) this past summer, Simyra was featured as the bear guide helping the video team that produced that special). Thanks for all the wonderful memories you and Clint always provided!
Here are just a very few of the many images I captured during my trips to Hallo Bay (note: all of these images were from my early visits to the camp).
A flyover the camp, to make sure there were no bears or moose on the beach’s “landing strip”:
Family nap time:
A curious red fox:
A break from grazing, to check for any potential dangers:
Brown bear with fresh salmon:
My first bear fight! A sow and her 2 2-year-old cubs driving another sow away from their fishing spot:
“The Three Amigos”:
A white wolf on the beach of Hallo Bay:
Bald Eagle taking flight:
Sow nursing young cub, on the beach:
Naturalist/Guide Simyra making sure the bears do not approach too closely to the photographers (that’s me with Simyra, taken by a photographer/friend at the camp)
A big fish meal necessitates an afternoon nap!:
I was fortunate to be at the camp on several occasions when either a BBC or Disney film crew were busy capturing footage for nature specials. I got to meet a couple of Emmy Award winning videographers and had such an interesting and entertaining time! Thanks Clint/Simyra, for all the great times at the camp!