I just read this fun story on CNN!
Fat Bear Week 2025 is the Distraction Everybody Needs (Lilit Marcus, CNN)
I couldn’t help but click on it because I was curious, and I did need some distraction.
So, there is a “Fat Bear Award” and it is pretty well known.
It even has a Wikipedia page. Here’s a quote from it.
Fat Bear Week is an annual event held in late September or early October by Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, commemorating the seasonal preparations made by Alaska peninsula brown bears inhabiting Katmai as they ready themselves for their winter hibernation. The competition is organized by the National Park Service and Explore.org. Spectators from around the world are invited to cast online votes to determine the bear that has most effectively accumulated fat reserves. — Wikipedia
If you want to watch Fat Bear Week voting unfold, here’s a link to the website.
Fat Bear Week (Explore.org, Official Website)
If you need more distraction, then watch Explore.org’s Live Cams. You can also check out Explore.org’s YouTube Channel that has Live Streams and a bunch of Videos.
Of course, I did 🙂
Then I went looking for 360° videos of the bears on YouTube.
Here’s a link to one that I think might be of bears at Katmai, but I’m not certain.
Swimming With Bears (National Geographic, YouTube 360° Video)
Of course, I couldn’t help but watch this video, even if it isn’t from Katmai.
Watch the video below in 360° on YouTube here!
Wildlife Protection Solutions (YouTube Channel)
Wildlife Protection Solutions (Official Website)
So, that’s was a LOT of distraction!
However, if you still need even more, check out Critter’s Hollow.
Yes, if you look around, there’s a bear!
You can also explore it on Kuula.
Enjoy & Happy Fat Bear Week!