This year’s festivities had a bumpy start, with the drama going back to spring when the bears emerged from hibernation to an empty pantry.

“The salmon run this year was really slow in coming [to] Brooks River and bears have had to work a little bit harder than in years past,” said Explore.org naturalist Mike Fitz, who created Fat Bear Week in 2014.

The competitors rely on the Brooks River sockeye salmon to hit their gains. The bears can eat up to 40 salmon a day (Otis was once seen clocking 42), which translates to roughly 100,000 calories. They also gorge on berries, grasses, clams and clay. (That last dish is thought to help with parasites, not to pack on pounds.)

The next hurdle came in September, when the competition was nearly canceled or postponed by a federal government shutdown. The rangers who produce Fat Bear Week were among the federal employees who’d be furloughed, which would have halted the tournament.

But to the delight of fans around the world, Fat Bear Week lives on. Katmai media ranger Naomi Boak hopes fans will appreciate the mix of this year’s contenders.

“As we put a bracket together, it’s really easy to have just the big guys,” she said. “But what we really want is to tell the story of this incredible ecosystem, the success of the bears and their many successes.”

Here’s who made the cut this year.

480 ‘Otis’

A legend synonymous with Fat Bear Week, 480 “Otis” is back for the 2023 competition — and shockingly big, all things considered. Otis is roughly 27 years old, making him one of the oldest bears in Katmai. The godfather of Brooks Falls emerged in late July emaciated and largely toothless. He disappeared for a midseason walkabout, then surprised fans with a reappearance at the falls on Sept. 9 looking absolutely engorged. “G.O.A.Tis” now packs a paunch worthy of his four past titles.

747 ‘Colbert’

Last year’s winner is back on the ballot for 2023, and the two-time champion is worthy of the title once again. 747 “Colbert” arrived at Brooks this summer massive, then proceeded to get about as fat as you can fathom. “He might be the biggest brown bear in Alaska,” said Richard Russell, a retired fish and game biologist who’s been visiting Brooks Camp regularly since 1973. “747 is immense.”

128 ‘Grazer’

A mother, fan favorite and front-runner for the 2023 title, 128 “Grazer” is a leggy blonde — and those legs are ham hocks. Fitz calls her an archetypal mother bear and an expert fisher. “She outfishes any other bears,” said Katmai ranger Gilbert Molina. “And she’s tough. She doesn’t put up with any bear.” You can spot 128 and her fluffy ears fishing at the lip at the top of the falls, fighting off the other biggest bears of the area, as well as night-fishing with Otis recently without conflict. She is so iconic, her name has become a verb. For the record, you do not want to get Grazered.

428 ‘Svetlana’

428 “Svetlana,” also known as “Studious,” is a new kid on the block. She’s a recently emancipated subadult — that means they’re independent from their moms, but not sexually mature yet The light brown beauty is presumed to be Grazer’s daughter and already living up to her bloodline as a highly fat, highly capable angler. But can she overcome her rookie status?

Fat Bear Week camera helps rescue hiker on Alaska mountain

806 Jr.

Fresh off his Fat Bear Junior win, 806 Jr. is hands-down the cutest competitor in the bracket. He spent the summer getting his footing near Brooks Falls, risking the wrath of other bears exponentially bigger than his baby figure. His bravery and bulbous shape will help him in his first tournament debut.

32 ‘Chunk’

32 “Chunk” is so huge this year that he’s giving the giant Las Vegas Sphere a run for its money. Take one look at the hardcore scars across Chunk’s honkin’ dome, and you’ll see that not only is he big enough to beef with the other top dogs, he’s brave enough, too. “This is a bear in his prime,” Boak said. “He’s gained a lot of weight, and he’s throwing it around.” Always a bridesmaid, never a bride: 32 has been a regular fixture of FBW, but has yet to win. That could change this year; fans have taken note that 32 is looking even bigger than 747 (gasp!).

435 ‘Holly’

Is that a hippo in the water? No, it’s 435 “Holly,” one of the oldest bears at Brooks, and most beloved. The 2019 Fat Bear Week champ has captured hearts for years for being a “supermom,” going so far as to adopt an abandoned cub in 2014 (a very rare occurrence in the bear world). She’s so fat this year that one person online aptly described her as looking like a Pillsbury biscuit can that exploded. Now in her mid-to-late 20s, Holly is an inspiration for women everywhere, as a fan in the Fat Bear Week Bracket Tournament Facebook group pointed out, “in America human women become invisible as they age. Holly deserves to shine BECAUSE of her age.”

164 ‘Bucky Dent’

Described by fans as zany, 164 “Bucky Dent” has been known to “moonwalk” at the falls and is celebrated for his innovative fishing technique. He sits just below the falls underneath and next to some of the most dominant bears around. “He’s young, he’s only six years old,” Boat said. “He is a worthy contestant in Fat Bear Week.” The youthful rapscallion also steals fish from his river-mates. This summer, the gargantuan adult male was seen courting some of the competition’s most popular females, including 284 “Electra” and 128 “Grazer,” who was spotted rebuffing his advances. While he might not have been lucky in love, 164 was clearly lucky in fish.

901

901 was a wild card entry in the 2022 race, sending jaws to the floor with her before and after photos. Despite being a rookie, she was ample enough to take second to 747. But it’s been a tough year following her silver medal finish. She arrived at Brooks as a new mom with three adorable cubs in tow. “She’s nowhere near the size she was last year because it takes all that energy to raise cubs,” Boak said. Tragically, one of her babies disappeared in September. The surviving, spectacularly cute tots competed in Fat Bear Junior, but lost to 806 Jr. who went on to take the crown. Can their big, beautiful mother turn around the family’s streak of bad luck?

151 ‘Walker’

151 “Walker” is another formidable Fat Bear Week regular who made it to the semifinals in 2021 but was ousted by Otis. The dark brown bear is no dark horse. “He’s a lightbulb of a bear,” Fitz said. Walker, an expert fisherbear, has been eating with a vengeance all summer long and has been walrus-sized since August.

402

If Fitz could only use one word to describe 402, it’d be experience. “She is the mother of at least eight litters,” Fitz said. With a female yearling in tow this summer, 402 made her first appearance on the cams in mid-July. The mom was often seen heroically dashing to her baby’s rescue when the yearling got swept up in the river current and sucked down the falls. On one such occasion, 402 charged mighty 747 before he could take advantage of the situation. And despite being a nursing mom, 402 has amassed quite the booty.

284 “Electra”

284 has a face that launched a thousand nicknames. She’s been called: Fatters, Beauty, Dancing Bear and Crazy Bear. A ranger gave her the name “Electra” in 2014 and it stuck. 284 made her season return in June and has put on an electrifying performance with her “dash and grab” fishing technique. She is downright bodacious.

On the bench:

Following in Holly’s footsteps, 910 adopted her emancipated 2½-year-old niece, even though she already had a yearling of her own to raise. Both tots got fat enough to make it into Fat Bear Juniors. But her heartwarming tale wasn’t enough to get her into the tournament this year.

One of the biggest, baddest boys in the game, “856 is the prime bear right now,” Russell said. The elephantine competitor is often seen charging the river’s most dominant bears, getting them out of the way for his own fishing needs. Perhaps a too obvious pick for FBW 2023.

089 ‘Backpack’

It’s a crime to see 089 “Backpack,” big, huge son of Holly, not make the bracket. He earned his nickname as a yearling, when a leg injury left him limping and Holly carried him around Brooks on her back. Today, “Packy” would crush his poor mother if he tried to do the same. Sporting a pair of round, golden ears, 089 returned to the river this year and packed on titanic poundage, all while avoiding conflict. “He’s very big right now, but he doesn’t have that aggressive personality,” Boak said. “He’s a different kind of male bear success.”

602 ‘Snorkel Bear’

Do not let the whimsical nickname “Snorkel Bear” fool you; 602 is no joke. The adult male looks like a submarine. 602 is known for walking around Brooks Falls with his head dunked in the water like he’s snorkeling. There’s obviously a method to his madness, as 602 has snorkeled his way to a humongous figure this summer. Better luck next year, snorkel king.

903 ‘Gully’

Most bears don’t eat birds. But most bears aren’t 903. His propensity for chasing and eating the glaucous-winged gulls of the Brooks River earned him the nickname “Gully.” He may be onto something. Since the adult male returned to the Falls rather gaunt in July, he’s properly ballooned. We wish him a healthy, happy hibernation away from the limelight.