INTRODUCING BRISTOL BAY’S ‘MOST INTERESTING MAN’ BY BJORN DIHLE
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ark Emery may be the most interesting man in the world. Legend has it that he decided to move to Bristol Bay after getting the best of the biggest alligator in Florida in a Greco-Roman wrestling match. Emery was on the eve of turning 30 and had already lived a storied life – he began his career working with wildlife under the employment of famous herpetologist Ross Allen at the Reptile Institute in Silver Springs, Florida. He would give talks to visitors and show them how to wrestle alligators and milk rattlesnakes. “It didn’t pay great. Three bucks an hour. If you worked there any length of time, you were sure to get bitten by rattlesnakes and alligators,” Emery said. Still, he loved it. His time with Allen, he says, taught him how to tell stories and exposed him to the world of wildlife filmmaking. Silver Springs was also a famous scuba diving center, and Emery, apprenticing with underwater cinematographer Jordy Klein Jr., learned how to film underwater. During this time period, Emery also fought as a professional heavyweight kickboxer. “I quit while I was ahead,” Emery said.
IT WAS AROUND THEN, in 1984, that Emery moved to King Salmon in Bristol Bay. He’d taken a job guiding visiting sport fishermen, but he was equally drawn to the prospect of exploring and filming the surrounding wild country. When he was a kid, he was captivated by articles in Outdoor Life magazine about the impressive concentration of brown bears at nearby Brooks Falls. One of his first impressions of Bristol Bay was about as opposite from wilderness magic as it gets, though. Emery was visiting the
Whether he’s filming bears around Bristol Bay or alligators in his native Florida – he’s also wrestled the latter – Mark Emery doesn’t shy away from adventure. Author Bjorn Dihle calls him Bristol Bay’s version of “The Most Interesting Man in The World.” (MARK EMERY) aksportingjournal.com | FEBRUARY 2021
ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL
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