Sudden loss, skilled fishing, and one of this year's largest cubs at the river.

First identified as a 2.5-year-old subadult in 2018, 901 has become one of the most prominent and recognizable females at Brooks River, a regular around the river mouth, campground, lodge, and visitor center. She's also a natural in the pantheon of pudginess, readily reaching a level of fatness above that of many other bears. (Look for blond-rimmed, triangle-shaped ears.) But raising cubs has brought mixed results. No cubs from her first litter survived, and one of her two cubs this year disappeared in June.

Since then, 901 has shown she can work through loss. She knows the river, she's a good angler, and her surviving cub has grown into one of the largest at the river this year. She's also a known offspring of 284, another contender in this field. Sudden change has shadowed her adult life, but her body size and her cub's health tell a story of success. Can 901 turn that success into a title?