Fat Bear Week is officially underway. The 10th annual contest will determine 2024’s best hefty hibernator currently chowing down on salmon in Alaska’s Katmai National Park. From October 2-8, millions of people tune into Explore.org’s live streams overlooking Brooks River—one of the region’s most popular spots for brown bears to chow down and bulk up ahead of the winter. More than 1.3 million people cast their ballot last year, and relied on these video feeds to catch a glimpse of the bears in action. That puts a lot of responsibility on people like BJ Kirschhoffer, a conservation technologist working with Explore.org to ensure cameras are properly placed, installed, and maintained not just for Fat Bear Week, but for wildlife regions around the world.
“You know, there really isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to where our cameras are mounted,” Kirschoffer tells Popular Science. “We can bolt stuff down to rocks if there are rocks there. If it’s just sand, we’ve got big screws that we send into the earth to hold our stuff in place. We’ve sort of become experts in just being adaptable and working in a place where there’s no hardware store.”
But Kirschoffer says his team is “pretty lucky” at Brooks Falls, given its logistics are more straightforward than some of Explore.org’s other feed locations, such as underwater coral reefs or owl nests. The national park has a long history of tourists visiting both to fish and peep at the bears. An elevated platform built near the river provides a lookout point for people (and keeps them separated from the hungry predators), so Kirschoffer’s crew took advantage of that for Fat Bear Week by mounting their cameras directly on the structure.
“The cam views are the same view you might have if you’re standing there right at Brooks Falls,” he says.
Even so, the annual event’s famed fat bears don’t live and eat in the most easily accessible part of the world—especially during the depths of winter when the forests are blanketed with snow. Because of this, the bear cams need to be resilient enough to withstand extreme climate conditions, and support enough power to continue working for long stretches of time. At Brooks Falls, this means a combination of both off- and on-grid cameras. Given how much strong wind regularly tears through the park, one might think it could provide a steady source of sustainable energy—but as Kirschhoffer explains, the wind speeds actually work to their disadvantage.
“We played around a little bit with wind generators… [but] I mean, just the true raw power of nature there can be witnessed from time to time,” he says. “You’re really not that far from Bristol Bay when you’re at Brooks Camp. The powers there, what the weather can do is just, I mean, it’s pretty amazing.”
Luckily, solar power has stepped in as a cheap and reliable alternative to keep cameras up and running nearly 24/7. As is the case with any technology, however, regular maintenance is required. Kirschhoffer estimates repairs are needed at Brooks Falls roughly twice a year, most often due to either wind or water damage. Other locations, such as marine environments, can be even harder on cameras and require annual tune-ups. Ideally, though, Kirschhoffer says repairs are only needed at most sites every two-ish years.
As for the cameras themselves, you expect state-of-the-art, high-tech installations. In actuality, most of the setups (including Fat Bear cams) are pretty mundane. You might even own similar rigs yourself.
“You know, most of our stuff we actually use are security cameras,” Kirschhoffer says. “Mostly because these things are really tailored to be outside.”
These setups often also include features such as “Pan-Tilt-Zoom” capabilities that allow controllers to adjust angles in real-time, and their windshield wipers are perfect for Brooks Falls’ damp surroundings. Kirschhoffer says he’s used cameras from most of the major security camera manufacturers. While your home cameras might only catch the occasional package delivery or dog walker, it’s at least nice to know they could likely handle filming an internationally beloved fat bear contest in a pinch.
“I think it’s pretty special to be involved in something like this,” says Kirschhoffer. “These places that we put these cameras most of the time are very inaccessible or very expensive to get to. So to be able to provide a view for free that people, for whatever reason or another, aren’t able to make it out there… That’s pretty special. I’m excited that people like it as much as I do.”
The Fat Bear voting bracket continues through October 8, but thanks to Kirschhoffer and Explore.org, fans can tune in to Brooks Falls year round.