It鈥檚 that time of year again. The Explore.org聽 is back in action, providing a 24/7 livestream of unsuspecting brown bears in their natural habitat. The bear cam and the dozens of others available on the site have become increasingly popular聽in the last six years, and some would argue they鈥檙e another tool for fighting conservation apathy.
One thing is for certain: the bear cam is hypnotizing. Will we see a cub? Will they catch fish? What bear things will they do next? To celebrate the return of this old standby, we ignored our overflowing inboxes and tuned into Explore.org鈥檚 many other wilderness cams for a few minutes (or more鈥ay more). Here is聽our scientific ranking of the best places to watch awesome animals in action:
7. Polar Bears in Wapusk National Park, Canada聽
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I assumed my post at 2:36 p.m.听MST. Violent winds shook the camera, making the footage nauseating to watch after five seconds. There was nothing to see but an empty horizon鈥擨 accepted the challenge and played Where's Waldo, scouring the screen for a hint of an adorable polar bear playing in the far off distance. After a full minute passed with no sign of said polar bear, the camera panned: There's nothing, literally nothing, going on in Wapusk National Park right now. By 2:47 p.m., I gave up hope and returned to my work.
Score: 0/10
鈥擜sh Dumford, social media editor
6. Shark Lagoon
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I was very excited to view the 鈥淪hark Lagoon鈥 livestream but was a bit disappointed.
A) Not a lagoon鈥攙ery much an aquarium tank.
B) No sound. Attention dwindled quickly.
C) It was just sharks swimming around a tank, a bit boring. Feeding time might be more fun.
Score: 3/10
鈥擬arie Sullivan, associate video producer
5. Penguin Habitat
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2:00 p.m.听Oh, this stream is from a zoo in California. There are about eight penguins chilling on an artificial beach. I guess that makes sense, but for some reason I was getting ready to watch a feed from Antarctica.
2:06聽p.m.听What鈥檚 up, guys? Don鈥檛 you want food? Water? Shade? If you鈥檙e just hanging out, why not lie down instead?
2:07聽p.m.听Just realized there鈥檚 a baby penguin cam, too. Switching.
2:09聽p.m.听He just turned his back on me. Now he鈥檚 lying down! C鈥檓on little man!
2:16聽p.m.听Five minutes later and he hasn鈥檛 done anything.听
2:27聽p.m.听I don鈥檛 know what I was expecting鈥攐bviously these animals have no obligation to entertain me.
Score: 5/10
鈥擶es聽Judd, assistant editor
4. Audubon Puffin Boulder Berm
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There are four puffin cameras on Seal Island, a national wildlife refuge off the coast of Maine. This is useful, because the puffins are not always present in all of them at the same time. But more often than not, I was able to find one (or, sometimes, many) of the birds on camera. The best two views are in the dens, where you get to see puffins up close and can also hear their call鈥攁 low growl of the kind often made by a house cat. (Puffins, apparently, do not otherwise make noise鈥攖he calls made in the video are of another bird entirely.)聽
Score: 6/10
鈥擩onah Ogles, senior editor
3. Bison and Prairie Dogs in Grasslands National Park
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Watching bison graze under the morning light of Saskatchewan was oddly satisfying. The highlight was witnessing a young bison lick an electric fence鈥攁 mistake it will certainly not make again. This was a unique moment that only a live cam could capture. The prairie dogs were boring. Their erratic and anxious feeding left everything to be desired. A camera near the entrance of a burrow might provide more action. Better yet, a camera in a burrow! 聽
Score: 7/10 for the bison; 2/10 for the prairie dogs.
鈥擝en Fox, editorial assistant
2. Bears in聽Katmai National Park
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I just watched one bear sloshing through the water, and it somehow managed to be stupidly cute while moving, but also regal-looking when sitting around. The waterfalls were very soothing, but the seagulls slightly ruined my experience鈥攅specially when they started devouring something in the background when I was just trying to distract myself from my mounting pile of work with some cute bears.听
Score: 8/10
鈥擬olly Mirhashem, editorial assistant
1. Charlo Montana Osprey Nest
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10:42 a.m. My editor assigns me the Charlo Montana Osprey Nest, informing聽me聽that I “have a thing for scary birds.”
10:50 a.m. There are three birds in the nest. They all seem to be of about equal size. I ask Google if ospreys are polygamous; apparently only rarely.
10:55 a.m. It appears that one of the birds is actually smaller than the other two. I call him Flighty because he seems ill-equipped to fly. The other birds I name Mama Bird and Pops.
10:56 a.m. Mama Bird ruffles her feathers. It is incredibly loud on my speakers.听
10:57 a.m. Pops starts screeching. The magazine's deputy editor walks by, and I decide to up the volume. It's melodic.听
10:59 a.m. There is a surprisingly active comment thread on this feed (36,000-plus). Apparently, the birds have already been named. There's Char, This One, and That One. I think Char is the dad. Mom is unnamed. Or she's gone. This is confusing and I prefer my names.
11:01 a.m. I sign up for the text message alert hotline.
11:03 a.m. The birds start making new noises. More like a clucking. I'm tempted to message our executive editor, who is unhealthily into birds, but determine that I shouldn't for the sake of my career.
11:05 a.m. Commotion! Pops takes off. Flighty is perplexed. Mama Bird doesn't give a damn.
11:07 a.m. Flighty stands up, and goddamn is he good looking. He looks hungry. Maybe that's why Pops flew off?
11:09 a.m. The screeching has stopped, and I find that depressing. I can't exactly leave this feed open all day on my main monitor. I consider working from home.
11:29聽a.m. I break down and message our executive editor [Mike Roberts] about the birds.
SR: The dad just came back with a fish. I think he鈥檚 ripping it apart and feeding them.
MR: It鈥檚 what dads do. I do it every night.听
During my wedding ceremony, an osprey flew by carrying a fish. Should have known then I鈥檇 end up with three kids!
SR: How鈥檇 you notice that during the ceremony? Didn鈥檛 you have other things to focus on?
MR: I always notice the birds. I can鈥檛 not notice them.
Score: 10/10
鈥擲cott Rosenfield, online editor