[USA Today] Three men who left the safety of a viewing platform to wade into the river to photograph brown bears at the famous Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park in Alaska were sentenced to jail and each fined $3,000."These individuals behaved carelessly and put themselves at great risk," Mark Sturm, superintendent of Katmai National Park and Preserve, stated in a press release. "Brown bears are fierce, territorial predators, especially when concentrated in order to feed on migrating salmon. Things could have easily ended very badly."
Brooks Falls is located on the Brooks River and is a popular summer destination to view salmon leaping over the 6-foot falls as bears congregate and feed on them, sometimes catching the salmon in mid-air.