First, to avoid interference from other bears, they often carry captured salmon to the stream bank or into the riparian (streamside) forest before eating.
Not surprisingly, one study found that growth of Sitka spruce, the dominant streamside tree in the area, was three times greater along salmon streams than along nonsalmon streams.
A very large, commercially valuable salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) of northern Pacific waters, characterized by irregular black spots on its back. Also called king salmon, quinnat salmon.