By Mindy Weisberger, Senior
Writer | June 10, 2016 02:18pm ET
A naturalist guide for a remote
lodge in Alaska recently photographed an incredible sight — close-up views of a
beached sperm whale carcass that was being scavenged by brown bears.
The images were captured by Karyn
Traphagen, a naturalist guide with the nearby Tutka Bay Lodge in the south central
part of the state. She snapped the photos on June 4 as a bear prowled around
the carcass and even climbed on top of it, and then posted the photos on her
"Stay
Curious" Facebook page, where she chronicles her encounters with
Alaska plants and
wildlife.
Traphagen told Live Science in an
email that the whale was mostly intact when she first saw it, and that bears
were "licking the skin and oil and eating soft parts." She described
the whale's teeth, visible in the lower jaw, as "bigger than the bear's
claws," estimating them to be about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in length.
An airplane pilot first spotted
the beached whale in the beginning of June, and Traphagen later led small
groups of lodge guests to observe the location
from a distance, so as not to disturb the bears that had
begun to feed.
"It was pretty windy, so the
smell was not too bad — yet!" Traphagen said.
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