.. as large male grizzly comes around the same corner toward the stands. Normally when the large males come to fish the other grizzlies back off the fishing area but on this day they did share even if the mother and cubs did keep a respectful distance.
.. her cubs which eventually come into sight. Once the cubs get closer she appears much more cautious and makes sure the cubs stay close. Her speed picks up as she moves into the area near the stands and starts to fish. Soon the reason for her change of attitude appears….
It is after August 24th and we are in the grizzly bear viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. A grizzly comes slowly around the corner toward the stands. It stops and looks back waiting for…..
This is another photo provided by our guests from a posting in December 19 to 21 of 2015 (can check the sidebar and go to Dec. 2015). An eagle had been reported in the water, far from shore, swimming toward the beach. By the time we got close enough to get it out of the water it was in rough shape. We managed to get the eagle quite dry and to a safe place on the beach. When we checked later it was gone so we assumed it made a recovery.
Most bears have the equivalent eyesight as humans; however, like humans, there is quite a bit of variation. Some bears have great vision, and some, especially older bears, may have degraded eyesight. But as a general rule, bears see things in better detail than deer, and about the same as humans.
Part of the poor vision myth comes from the fact that because their noses and hearing are so good that they do not rely as much on their vision. If the wind keeps our scent from the bear we are ignored. What about hearing you say? I have noticed that the bars tend to look up the beach to were normal danger might occur and it appears that they also hear the echo of our motors from that direction and do no look toward the boat. Thus good viewing of black bears.
This is the look you get from a grizzly bear when the current pushes you within their comfort zone. The happened this past September on the way down Knight Inlet coming back from the day’s grizzly watching tour. We were looking for black bear when one of my guests spotted this grizzly eating kelp on the shore. We turned off the motor and let the tide do the rest and unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your viewpoint) we drifted closer than we should have but in deep water. With tide and wind it is impossible to paddle the larger boat and we did not want to start the motor and scare the bear. We eventually moved past the grizzly which remained on the beach eating.
Unlike humpback whales the tail slapping of killer whales seems to be a playful activity of the Northern Resident Whales we watch. It can occur when they are close to your whale watching boat even if their are no other pods of orca in the area. The underside is mainly white in contrast to the black from the top of their tail. This behaviour is less frequent than with the humpbacks.
Their is no consensuses amount the scientific community for tail slapping or lobtailing by humpback whales. The reasons range from communication to feeding habits. In our viewing area of the Johnstone Strait it seems to occur more often on days with a little chop on the water. The reasons is not as important as the fact that it happens three or four times a week and is always spectacular. And even more attention getting is that it is often accompanied by breaching.
Reporting a pectoral fin as an orca dorsal fin will lead to several days of radio talk about ones eye sight and value as a guide. The best policy is to make sure one see the “complete mammal” before reporting.
Humpback whales have extraordinarily long pectoral fins, nearly one third the length of the whale. The length and shape of the pectoral fins facilitate the graceful movement humpbacks are known for, even allowing the whale to swim backwards and turn on a dime. These long pectoral fins are where humpbacks get their scientific name Megaptera novaeangliae or “big-winged New Englander”. On foggy mornings they have been reported as killer whale dorsal fin as will be shown in the next posting….
Bald Eagles are frequently sighted in our area. At times they can be seen in large numbers. This is usually where food supplies are high. For example this could be in areas with high concentrations of baitfish or along the rivers in the fall when the salmon are spawning. They are not migratory, but do move around with the food supply. As mentioned earlier when the salmon are spawning we often see many along the rivers, while there will be fewer along the coastline. With little need for camouflage their white head and tail feathers can be spotted easily. The female is slightly larger and her white head extends down a bit farther onto the body, but it is subtle. It takes these birds 4.5 – 5 years to acquire this unique plumage. As juveniles they are a brown colour. With exceptional eyesight and the ability to view 270 degrees they are understandably often seen in high perches and in trees near points and passageways.
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