Record-setting Fat Bear Week turnout overloads voting site

Bear 901 faces a tough battle with Bear 806. Image: Courtesy of C. Loberg If you spent your day trying to vote for your favorite chunky bear without any luck, you’re not alone. The biggest Fat Bear Week turnout of all time triggered 404 errors and slow-loading pages for fans eager to cast their votes online. On Facebook, explore.org announced that the Day 1 voting would continue tomorrow, September 23. And if you were able to cast your vote (lucky you!), your vote still counted. Explore.org asked fans who successfully cast a vote to close the voting page when done. “The platform we use to host Fat Bear Week is throttling the number of people who can view a poll at once,” the organization explained on their site. “We are working with them to resolve this. If you have voted in Fat Bear Week already please close the page to allow others to view the polls.” As a reminder, Day 1 of Fat Bear Week included four head-to-head matches of mom and single females: Bear 132 and cubs vs. Bear 284 and cubs Bear 806 vs. Bear 901 Bear 909 vs. Bear 428 Bear 131 vs. Bear 910 You can learn more about all the bears competing in Popular Science‘s deep-dive Day 1 breakdown. Voting is open between 12-9pm EDT (9am-6pm PDT, 8am-5pm AKDT) at explore.org. The winner will be crowned on Tuesday, September 29. 2026 Popular Science Home of the Future Awards 39 products that will improve your everyday life.