Ask HN: What livestream do you keep open in a tab?

I recently found the Brooks Falls bear cam (Katmai, Alaska). It's become the calmest thing on my screen.

It's peak salmon run right now, so it's basically bears and their all-you-can-eat salmon feast.

But there's a bear that only fishes by belly-flopping at the salmon, and as far as I can tell has never once caught anything. I have no idea how it's still eating.

A few others just sit in the water doing nothing at all.

Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ZrIDvqlic

What's yours?

51 points | by missmoss 1 day ago

14 comments

  • sixthDot 11 hours ago
    Some streams of the EarthCam channel (Temple Bar, New Orlean, etc). A bit of Virtual Railroad fans too (Revelstoke, Flagstaff, etc). Truck driving lives (esp. because of engine sounds, good for concentration). During U.S winter storms some random storm-chasers lives.
  • zenith605 21 hours ago
    Renesse aan Zee — a square in a Dutch seaside town. Cafes, bikes, people wandering past. Closest thing to the doorbell-cam feeling someone mentioned above.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMgVXcPwxtQ

    I keep a directory of these so I ended up counting: that one has been live without a break for 8 years and 47 days, the oldest I've found. Most don't come close — median across the ~2,000 live cams I track is 193 days. Stream keys expire, power goes out, storms take the camera down.

  • NalNezumi 1 day ago
    Not on YouTube I think but my friend to told me about the great elk migration 24/7 stream in Sweden is her yearly favorite thing. I think one can watch it on SVT homepage

    https://youtu.be/Pz35sXPjo2c?si=tEP5TlI8rDqWccb9

    [-]
    • missmoss 1 day ago
      I love this already. Slow-moving large animals are an instant yes for me
  • dd-sharma 1 day ago
    I maybe in minority on this. I can focus only on one thing at a time. I fail miserably if I try even background music. It would play but I probably wouldn't register. And if I hear the music then my work will take at least twice as longer.
  • UltimateEdge 14 hours ago
    Corfe Castle Station Webcam: https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/webcams
  • fullstick 1 day ago
    Colorado Rattlesnake Cam https://www.youtube.com/live/1ERXpC-Nv8o

    They have babies in August

    [-]
    • missmoss 1 day ago
      Weirdly soothing to watch it slowly reposition itself
  • mtmail 1 day ago
    Namibia water hole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydYDqZQpim8
  • vermarish 1 day ago
    Not me, but my dentist always keeps one of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's livestreams in her office.

    Sea otters: https://www.youtube.com/live/abbR-Ttd-cA

    Jellyfish: https://www.youtube.com/live/eQ_foBERmzA

  • wcchandler 1 day ago
    Level 2 stocks, usually includes GameStop. Often the chat is the more interesting part. Lots of eyes, people watching and spotting trends and anomalies. I’ve learned a lot and it pays for my hobbies but if I wasn’t invested or already had a good idea of how markets worked, I’d likely be disinterested.
  • wj 1 day ago
    Brooks bears are wonderful. The sound is calming. I also like Surfline:

    https://www.youtube.com/live/hm9iAviOZ20?is=zkOMcU_8Sck0LOer

    [-]
    • missmoss 1 day ago
      Love that sound. I could sit at the beach all day
  • danshipt 23 hours ago
    If I find a nice (YT) video, I download it and play it locally.
  • wormpilled 1 day ago
    I have a few fireplace/campfire videos downloaded locally that I put on while reading.
  • tetris11 1 day ago
    My doorbell camera. It's like sitting on the stoop watching the world go by
    [-]
    • missmoss 1 day ago
      This makes perfect sense. My friend's cat is basically into window TV too
  • saaaaaam 1 day ago
    I don’t use YouTube much so I had no idea anything like this existed! Thank you.