If you’ve spent much time in bear country, you know how important it is to make noise, keep your head on a swivel, and, above all, try not to look like food. That last part is apparently tricky if you’re a blue-haired sea troll and you’re knee-deep in the Brooks River surrounded by flashing salmon.
Seattle Kraken forward John Hayden and the team’s mascot, Buoy, found themselves in a hairy situation with an Alaskan brown bear while fly fishing in Katmai National Park on June 25. The trip, organized by the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, was meant to be a lighthearted promotional video shoot for the NHL team. Instead, it turned into a close encounter with one of Katmai’s famous brown bears.
The video, which is making the rounds online, shows Hayden and Buoy standing in the current, waders on, rods in hand, when a large brown bear splashes into the water. The guide immediately advises the group to begin moving upstream and away from the bear, which locks in on the guy in the troll suit, trailing him before lunging forward with a low growl.
“While we were fishing, we had some pretty close calls with a couple of bears,” Hayden tells the camera in the video. “They were pretty interested in his whole look.”
Buoy handled the whole thing like a pro. The mascot’s Instagram account posted: “No trolls or bears were hurt in the making. Always respect wildlife in their natural habitat.”
That last part is worth repeating, because while this close call makes for a good laugh now, it could’ve ended differently if the crew hadn’t been mindful of bear behavior.
In the moment, the crew did exactly what you’re supposed to do. They didn’t run. They didn’t scream. Everyone remained calm and tried to give the bear plenty of space. The bear stopped short, decided this wasn’t worth the trouble, and turned away.
“They are super used to seeing humans. They’re just not used to seeing trolls. Buoy was a unique element to the day,” Melissa O’Brochta, senior manager of partnership marketing for the Seattle Kraken hockey team, told reporters. “I think the bear just got a little excited and wanted to get a little bit of a closer look at our dear friend, Buoy.”
Fortunately, nobody was hurt during the incident, not even the mascot’s oversized head. But the encounter was a reminder that Katmai’s coastal brown bears aren’t to be taken lightly. They’re enormous, muscled like linebackers, and skilled enough to pluck sockeye salmon straight out of the air during the annual spawn.
It’s almost bulking season for these bears, too. Every October, Katmai hosts Fat Bear Week, an online, March Madness-style bracket where fans vote for the brown bear that’s packed on the most pre-hibernation pounds. It’s a lighthearted competition that marks the bears’ period of “hyperphagia,” when they eat almost non-stop, consuming dozens of salmon daily, and can pack on 4 pounds of body weight a day to build the reserves they’ll need to survive the long Alaskan winter.
For Hayden and Buoy, the Brooks River encounter was one for the highlight reel.
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