Grizzly flaying a salmon

Skinning a salmon

From Wikipedia: “Flaying, also known colloquially as skinning, is the removal of skin from the body. Generally, an attempt is made to keep the removed portion of skin intact.” This grizzly is doing an excellent job of flaying the salmon but I do not think that keeping the skin intact is important. The skin is often the first part of the salmon eaten not because it needs to be removed to get to the flesh but because of the layer of fat located directly beneath the skin. If the bears are selective in their eating because of the abundance of salmon or they are becoming full they will eat the skin, the brain and the roe (eggs) and leave the remainder of the salmon for the seagulls, bald eagles or other scavengers.