Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Viewing Blog: Monthly Archives: September 2015

Spyhopping Orcas

Orca spyhopping

When spyhopping, killer whale rises and holds position partially out of the water, exposing its head, this is visually akin to a human treading water. Spyhopping is controlled and slow, and can last for minutes at a time if the orca is sufficiently inquisitive about whatever (or whomever) it is viewing. Spyhopping often occurs during a “mugging” situation, where the focus of attention is on a boat rather than on other nearby whales. Generally, the killer whale does not appear to swim to maintain its “elevated” position while spyhopping, instead relying on exceptional buoyancy control and positioning with pectoral fins.

 

 

Classic Grizzly Bear Pose

Griz Eating

Not quite as good as the famous photo that you see in every advertisement of lodges in Alaska with the grizzly catching the salmon in mid-air as it leaps up the falls. But that one is a once in a lifetime photo whereas the chance of getting a photo like this one at our lodge has a much higher probability. The number of grizzlies (45 plus) that are concentrated in the viewing area of Knight Inlet’s Glendale River and the volume of salmon coming to spawn dramatically increases the opportunities of photos of grizzlies catching salmon.

 

 

Juvenile fisher

Grizzly caught Salmon

The viewing platform used by Grizzly Bear Lodge after August 24th has water on three sides the forth side being the land access. This provides a natural setting for pictures and it also means that grizzlies are often fishing on more than one side. In the case of this photo the bear was in the natural river where many of the younger bears fish if there is a mother with cubs in the area that leads into the man made spawning channel. The mothers with first year cubs are very protective and young bears know it is not wise to “push their luck”.

 

 

What Kind of Bear? 3 of 3

Large Black Bear

Also from the National Wildlife Federation website: “Black bears have longer and less rounded ears and a more straight profile from forehead to nose. Black bears have relatively short claws, which enable them to climb trees. Not all black bears are black—their fur can range in color from pure white to a cinnamon color to very dark brown or black.” So checking the photo of the first post for ears, claws and hump it is a brown black. The bear has only been seen once but we do keep looking.

 

 

What Kind of Bear? 2 of 3

boss grizzly

The National Wildlife Federation website states:  “Grizzly bears are large and range in color from very light tan (almost white) to dark brown. They have a dished face, short, rounded ears and a large shoulder hump The hump is where a mass of muscles attach to the bear’s backbone and give the bear additional strength for digging. They have very long claws on their front feet that also give them extra ability to dig after food and to dig their dens.” And is a good description of the bear in this photo but does it match yesterdays post.

 

 

What Kind of Bear? 1 of 3

Black Bear BROWN

This photo may give some of the readers of this blog a chance to think. Our grizzly bear tours travel up Knight Inlet from the lodge on Minstrel Island to the area of Glendale Cove on a daily basis. This photo was taken several years ago on one of these morning tours and the guest in the boat were not sure that the guide was correct in his statement of the kind of bear. The next two posts will show you the choices.

 

 

Porpoising 2 of

Killer Whale

Orcas, or killer whales, are the largest of the dolphins so it is only natural that they will often behave like dolphins. There are both resident and transient pod populations of killer whales in our viewing area the most common being the residents. Resident pods tend to prefer fish, while transient pods target marine mammals.

 

Porpoising 1 of 2

Pacific White Sides Dolphins

Two definitions for the same activity take your pick I know the one I like. In this case a pacific whitsided dolphin is porpoising.

From Oxford Journals “Porpoising is the popular name for the high-speed surface piercing motion of dolphins and other species, in which long, ballistic jumps are alternated with sections of swimming close to the surface. The first analysis of this behavior (Au and Weihs, 1980) showed that above a certain “crossover” speed this behavior is energetically advantageous, as the reduction in drag due to movement in the air becomes greater than the added cost of leaping.”
Or Porpoising Definition – Birding and Wild Birds – About.com (verb) The act of leaping in and out of the water in a short, shallow arc while swimming.

 

 

Bald Eagle Catching

Bald eagle fishing

Not all fishing attempts by bald eagles are successful and if they do not succeed it is still a pleasure to watch. In the tour area of Grizzly Bear Lodge there are many mating pairs of eagles and it does not matter if you are on a grizzly, whale or the extra day trip you will see eagles. Actually when you are sitting on the front deck of the lodge eagles fly overhead.

 

 

Grazing Grizzly Bears

Grizzly with triplets

Grizzly bear viewing prior to August 25th is along the shore and in the estuary of the Glendale River. This is the area the mothers first bring their cubs in the spring. There is an abundance of high protein sedge grass as well as turning over beach rocks for the crawling protein. This photo is from early July so these cubs are five of six months old. At this time of the year we are in a 5.5 meter (yard) skiff, which allows us into the shallow water along the shore and in the river. This photo was taken with a Pentax Optio Wpi 6MP and 3X Optical Zoom that is a good quality point and shoot but most guest have better cameras so imagine the pictures they have.