Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Viewing Blog: Monthly Archives: February 2016
Humpback Whale “Fin”
Spring Grizzly Bears Grazing
In the spring the grizzly bears we view on the lodges wilderness tours are primarily grazing or turning over rocks. They come down to the shores of Knight Inlet to eat the sedge grass, which is very high in protein. This sedge sustains them until the salmon enter the rivers of British Columbia’s coast in mid-August. The morning grizzly bear tour uses 18 to 20 foot boats to travel up Knight Inlet to the Glendale River where we transfer to smaller a boat that allow us to drift along the shore to watch and hear the bears eating. This flat bottom skiff also permits us to follow the grizzly bears up river as the tide rises.
Humpback Whales Visit
February 1st post shows our rest stop at Telegraph Cove on a whale watching day but it is not where we eat lunch. Our picnic lunch is normally in Blackfish Sound where we view most of the humpback whales. We either tie to a kelp bed or drift in open water if there is not much boat traffic. Drifting is my preferred lunch spot as we often have visitors. Unfortunately, in a good way, this frequently extends our lunch break as the whales demand pictures just as we have the picnic spread out and are eating. It is amazing how fast food in hand is replaced with cameras when a whale surfaces close to the boat.
Grizzly approaching with caution 3 of 3
Grizzly approaching with caution 2 of 3
Grizzly approaching with caution 1 of 3
We are in the first viewing stand looking down the finger of land that links us to the second stand. This grizzly bear came up from the natural river and is crossing the track of road on its way to the pool holding the salmon waiting to enter the man made spawning channel. Its first glance is toward our position which is approximately 25 meters (yards) from the bear…