Humpback whale feeding – 2

whale feeding
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Seagull realeased 2The seagull that was shown in yesterday’s blog posting, as being caught by a lunging humpback whale was releases a few seconds later when the humpback resurfaced. Actually Angus (owner and guide) took the photo and he said he saw two seagulls being released by the same whale so it was a good day for the seagulls.

Humpback whale feeding – 1

lunging humpback whale
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Seagull caught 2

As mentioned earlier this has been an excellent year for humpback whale viewing at Grizzly Bear Lodge.  Some interesting pictures were taken of the whale’s lunge feeding on the many herring balls at Bold Head near Johnstone Strait. The herring balls are a result of the many duck feeding and the herring’s defense is to form a revolving ball, which attract the seagulls and the whales. A whale will come up beneath the herring ball with its mouth open and catch as many herring as possible and in this case a seagull.  Check the cropped picture. 

Grizzly bear fishing – 2

grizzly playing wiht food
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Once the grizzly in yesterday’s post gets a good hold on the salmon it throws it up the shore away from the water.  In this case keeping a mouthful of the belly. Many grizzlies catch and eat the salmon in the water but the less experienced bears will go to shore where there is a lower chance of losing the salmon.

 

Grizzly bear fishing – 1

grizzly fishing
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Grizzly bears fishing in the area of Knight Inlet’s Glendale River spawning channel employ a variety of techniques to catch their food.  This sub adult used the bouncing method.  Walking along the edge of the river it would see a salmon in shallow water and then make a quick jump on the salmon and catch it often enough to encourage it to repeat the process. For a grizzly success results in a fishing technique.

 

Classic orca pose

orca posing
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This is a classic picture of a male orca (large dorsal fin) and a female orca a.k.a. killer whales or blackfish.  Growing up in Campbell River on Vancouver Island I knew orca as blackfish the name killer whales or orca became more common after the start of the Eco tours.  The area adjacent to Johnstone where we frequently view the orca is known as Blackfish Sound a name predating the operation of Eco tours.

 

Humpback Whale Fluking

humpback tail
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This year has been an excellent year for humpback whales.  Most “whales days” view eight to ten whales. This is an excellent picture of a humpback whale fluking or its tail fin.  When a whale goes for a deeper dive it tends to push it’s nose down faster which lifts it back higher out of the water and this is normally followed by an opportunity for a good “fluke” picture.

 

Fall Grizzly Bear Cubs

gizzlies share
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Although this is not the same mother and cubs from yesterdays posting the size difference is notable.  This picture was taken two months later and the cub size is significant. The salmon have arrived in the Glendale River and the bears have moved up the river to the area of the viewing stands which we are permitted to use after August 24th. Mother grizzly bears catch and share the salmon with the cubs but on occasion they want one for themselves and often move to deeper water were the cubs have a harder time stealing their mothers catch. Although grizzlies are excellent swimmers the cubs have a difficult time swimming with a moth full of a salmon.

 

Spring Grizzly Bear Cubs

spring grizzly cubs
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Spring and early summer grizzly bear viewing from the lodge occurs along the shore of Knight Inlet’s Glendale River estuary. The mother grizzly bears bring their cubs to this area to feed on the sedge grass and roll the beach rocks to grab any available protein. This inter-tidal zone “food” is high in protein and is made up of crab, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. These are July cubs under the watchful eye of their mother.