A brown bear cub fishing next to mom atop a waterfall in Alaska was caught on video slipping into the turbulence below and disappearing underwater.
“Who else held their breath watching this?” Explore.org, which operates live bear cameras on the Brooks River,” asked followers via Twitter. Explore describe the cub’s recovery as “brilliant.”
The footage posted below shows the cub vanishing into swirling whitewater after losing its footing atop the falls. Mom looks concerned as her cub struggles and is approached by another large bear.
Who else held their breath watching this? A brilliant recovery from 910’s cub after slipping down the falls. pic.twitter.com/0viwb4i1uA
— explore.org (@exploreorg) July 27, 2022
But as the cub frantically swims toward shallow water near the bank, mom arrives to greet and check on her offspring.
It was a valuable lesson for the cub, who is learning how to catch sockeye salmon migrating up the Brooks River. The mom, Bear 910, is among the many brown bears that appear frequently on Explore’s popular live camera feeds.
