I wonder what was wrong with that bear. It was obviously having trouble before they got there to be 'sleeping' out in the open like that. That's not normal bear behavior.
I wonder if they (the state/rangers) did an autopsy.
I've never seen anything like that in nature.
This makes me really sad, and a bit worried that we might start hearing about BCD (Bear Collapse Disorder-related to CCD in bees). I know up here in N California, we have a serious issue with very low water in our rivers causing warm water, which allows toxic algae to bloom, devastating our salmon (and other river fish) population. I have no idea if that's happening in Alaska too.
I wonder if this is related, either from eating tainted fish or drinking the water. It can kill healthy, well fed dogs within minutes of drinking it, so I'm curious what it's doing to the struggling wildlife that has no other source of water. I've not heard or seen any studies on that.
That's likely just one more part of the disaster that is the California drought. Fingers crossed we get some good rain this winter, if not things here are going to get a bit Thunderdome-y.

Ever see one of these guys catch a jumping salmon? If not with their teeth, they don't grab it so much as spear it with those claws...

Greetings from Seattle, where 4/20 isn't just a holiday, it's a goddamn Olympic sport!

(also: try the salmon but stay for the $40 legal eights of Snoop's Dream!)

I've never actually agreed with the idea that nobody wants to eat them. Very few people eat the local carp, but outside of having a -lot- of bones, they make a great meal, with a wonderful flavor. And you can minimize the problems with the bones in a few different ways. Once they hit about 12-15 pounds, you can cut them into steaks, with two bones per steak. Or you can smoke and can them (my own personal favorite, as they soak up the smoke better than any other fish I've ever tried), which softens the bones until they're edible, just like canned salmon.

I'd have more worries over eating -any- fish caught in the Mississippi than I would over this one species from any other waters.

Nope, we don't eat salmon for breakfast. It is much more boring, sandwiches, porridge, coffee, milk, bacon&eggs, cornflakes, juice, that sort of things.. Salmon is way too expensive to have on breakfast... If you happen to have it, yeah maybe but not everyday..

But we may have horse or reindeer meat in the sausage (meetwurst) on our the sandwhich... We don't eat horse as a dish but it is often mixed in the sausage, it has to be seasoned strongly, so it fits in quite well and you don't need a lot of it. Reindeer of course is more common and less controversial as it's traditionally herded in Lapland and can be a full dish. "Poronkäristys", loosely translated as Reindeer Fry Stew is pretty good served with lingonberry jam and mash potatoes but it's a bit expensive.

Too bad they didn't have reindeer in there, that would've freaked the kids the hell out: "you are eating Peter the Rednose reindeer"

Oh good cod that's totally fake! He totally left the fish on porpoise, just for the halibut otherwise he would have let out a killer wail. That fish has watched this video like 100 times, she's hooked. I wonder if instead of awkwardly shambling around the plaice he could have tried to skate or ride a pike. Its a good job he filmed it - his friends probably aren't gillable enough to fall for a tall dory like this. Without fish eel have to grin and bare a gouda or other dairy comestible - either whey it'll be a scale down from the dinner he wanted. Sorry, couldn't kelp myself - have to learn reel myself in from time to time salmon ought to stop me before I make anemone. Fin.

It was April the forty-first
Being a quadruple leap year
I was driving in downtown Atlantis
My barracuda was in the shop
So I was in a rented stingray
And it was overheating

So I pulled into a Shell Station
They said I'd blown a seal
I said, "Fix the damn thing
And leave my private life out of it
Okay pal?"

While they were doing that
I walked over to a place called the Oyster Bar, a real dive
But I knew the owner
He used to play for the Dolphins
I said "Hi Gil"
You have to yell, he's hard of herring

Think I had a wet dream
Cruisin' thru the Gulf Stream
Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh
Wet dream

Gil was also down on his luck
Fact is he was barely keeping his head below water
I bellied up to the sandbar
He poured me the usual

Rusty snail, hold the grunion
Shaken not stirred
With a peanut butter and jellyfish sandwich on the side
Heavy on the mako

I slipped him a fin
On porpoise
I was feeling good
I even dropped a sand dollar in the box for Jerry's squids
For the halibut

Well the place was crowded
We were packed in like sardines They were all there to listen to the big band sounds of Tommy Dorsal
What sole

Tommy was rockin' the place with a very popular tuna
Salmon Chanted Evening
And the stage was surrounded by screaming groupers
Probably there to see the bass player

One of them was this cute little yellowtail
And she's giving me the eye
So I figured this is my chance for a little fun
You know, piece of Pisces

But she said things I just couldn't fathom
She was too deep, seemed to be under a lot of pressure
Boy, could she drink
She drank like a . . .
She drank a lot

I said "What's your sign"
She said "Aquarium"
I said "Great, let's get tanked"

Think I had a wet dream
Cruisin' thru the Gulf Stream
Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh
Wet dream

I invited her to my place for a midnight bait
I said "Come on baby, it'll only take a few minnows"
She threw me that same old line
"Not tonight, I gotta haddock"

And she wasn't kidding either
Cause in came the biggest, meanest looking haddock
I'd ever seen come down the pike
He was covered with mussels

He came over to me and said
"Listen, shrimp, don't you come trollin' around here"
What a crab
This guy was steamed
I could see the anchor in his eyes

I turned to him, I said
"A-balone, you're just being shellfish"
Well, I knew it was going to be trouble and so did Gil
'Cause he was already on the phone to the cods

The haddock hits me with a sucker punch
I catch him with a left hook
He eels over
It was a fluke but there he was
Lying on the deck, flat as a mackerel
Kelpless

I said "Forget the cods Gil
This guy's gonna need a sturgeon"
Well, the yellowtail was impressed with the way I landed her boyfriend
She came over to me, she said
"Hey, big boy, you're really a game fish
What's your name"
I said "Marlin"

Think I had a wet dream
Cruisin' thru the Gulf Stream
Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh
Wet dream

Well, from then on we had a whale of a time
I took her to dinner, I took her to dance
I bought her a bouquet of flounders
And then I went home with her
And what did I get for my trouble
A case of the clams

Think I had a wet dream
Cruisin' thru the Gulf Stream
Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh

Wet dream
Cruisin' thru the Gulf Stream
Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh

Wet dream
Cruisin' thru the Gulf Stream
Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh

on a side note, my cat loves grilled Alaskan salmon

Congratulations! Your video, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Salmon Cannon, has reached the #1 spot in the current Top 15 New Videos listing. This is a very difficult thing to accomplish but you managed to pull it off. For your contribution you have been awarded 2 Power Points.

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Salmon Cannon

Your video, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Salmon Cannon, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

The crucial difference is that the WBC doesn't issue death threats toward novelists/cartoonists, unless they've evolved their God Hates Fags campaign, that is.

Plus the international media is more than happy to paint the WBC with true colors: the same can't be said about the media's response to the muslim reaction toward Salmon Rushdie/Dutch Newspaper/Matt Stone/Trey Parker/et al.

But I take your point.

The salmon crosses the road because it knows that salmon roe is one of the most valuable alchemy ingredients in the entirety of Skyrim.
RUN! THE DRAGONBORN IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU!

The only issue would likely be if the hook(s) got caught in it's intestines. With any luck, they would be degraded enough by stomach acid that they would break if caught. Consider the size of the animal, a piece of wire and a few beads and/or spoons would pass right through, probably un-noticed. Even the lead shouldn't be a problem. These animals eat full size seals, with sharp heavy bones all the time, and they do just fine. That said, it would have been the right thing to do to remove the tackle before feeding the whales.
Now, when this happens salmon fishing it's usually a seal stealing the fish, and they often just bite the body off so they don't eat the hooks. The whale likely didn't get the whole fish (since it was still attached to the line and being pulled) so tackle may not be an issue at all.