(Image courtesy of Explore.org)
Good morning, fat bear fanatics! Here we are at the semifinals of Fat Bear Week and everybody’s fired up. Who’s with me??
Let’s recap last week’s matches: Regrettably, neither Beady sister (909 and 910) could land their paunches against 128 Grazer and 856. Despite being truly, deeply, unfathomably fat, each sow separately lost their spot on the line. They weren’t necessarily upsets though we (me and about 23,000 voters) were a little upset. Come on! 910 might not have a large following, but she is a generous bear and she is shaped like a post office. I thought she had a chance! She did not.
We’re down to the final four, and it’s any bear’s game. Note that Fat Bear Week thus far has been landslide wins for each victor; we’re now looking at a set of bears that dominate on and off the bracket. There’s so many pounds we could unpack here — including the very real life conflicts between these bears over the years at Brooks River. It’s like Real World: Katmai National Park, and these are not just main characters of the season; these are series regulars.
We started Fat Bear Week with a sow advantage (7 of the 12 bears were female), and we’re down to one: 128 Grazer. Grazer’s known for her strong defense, which is basically an offense. She fights the power, she’s a mom icon, and she eats like a champ. However, she’s also already taken home the title for two years running, and Fat Bear Week voters have been known to want to pass the trophy around.
