Guest Photos

A wildlife photographer’s dream!

We offer fantastic bear and whale watching opportunities at Sailcone’s Grizzly Bear Lodge, your guests’ photos prove it!

Do you have your own photos to add from your stay with us? Please click here to email us!

Grizzly Bear Siblings Salmon Fishing

Grizzly siblings fishing

Alone and vulnerable sibling grizzly bears of the Knight Inlet area often stay together until they are three or four years old often fishing, eating and sleeping side-by-side, and even denning together. The average breeding age for female grizzlies is 4.5 years. Males reach sexual maturity at roughly the same age as the females.  Sub-adult females tend to establish home ranges within or overlapping their mother’s home range. Sub-adult males are usually discouraged from staying in the same area by the larger males and must travel large distances to establish a home range. And even though these sub-adult males are capable of breeding at three or four years of age, they rarely have the opportunity to do so because of these older, bigger males.

Large Male Orca on Whale Watching Safari

Resident Male Orca

The day whale watching means we travel to the area of Johnstone Strait near Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island BC.  The resident, salmon eating orca, arrive in early late June and stay through October while the transient, mammal eating orca are in the area all year.  Confused?  The first serious study of the orca populations in the mid-1970’s started as a summer study so when the scientist arrived in July and left in September the orca were always in the area and therefore there named resident orca.  Little did they know that this was a summer feeding area as the orca followed the salmon?  The transient orcas, which were in the area, spend more time in the remote inlets in the summer because there was more boat traffic.  The transient orca still travel through our viewing area in the summer but this photo is of a resident as determined by the size and shape of its dorsal fin, taller and narrower at the base. Photo provide by guest Alferd Bittner.

Guest Comments about trip to lodge

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Click to enlarge

Grizzly Bear eating salmon

 

 

 

“Our holiday was in Mid September. We have shared stories of our stay ever since and will continue to do so, as our host John Reid with his wife & team gave us the benefit of truly unforgettable experiences. From the greeting off the seaplane with the three other couples on our flight, a massive bowl of sea food with all guests, a short walking tour to a nearby building (to listen to its history), a glorious meal, comfortable & relaxing accommodation, motorboat trip to find ourselves right where the killerwhales passed by (playing around our boat…Glenn was a gem as his love of the marine life was evident), beautiful lunch, another superb meal and on the third day a motorboat / minibus trip to our best ever wildlife experience….grizzlies and cubs feeding on wild salmon…our photos need no commentary, to a leisurely afternoon where I won a tee shirt (golf shot from front lawn to nearest a selected object) and John saw as off back on the seaplane.”

Wildlife safari to the “River”

When you book an extra day at our lodge on Knight Inlet it comes with a trip to the Kakweikan River. This is a remote river, about forty-five minutes from the lodge. Few people that are not our guests visit this area. It has fantastic scenery, occasionally grizzly bears and river fishing if your are interested. The day is spent with Trapper Rick who has earned his living on the river for better than twenty years. Photo byPeter Palstring 6-6

Whale Watching near Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island

Resident orca spend their summers in the area between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland and are likely to be found near Robson Bight which is part of the Johnstone Strait. A good orca photo will try to capture the bulk of the orca out of the water with their eye patch showing. Success! Wildlife normally viewed on a “whale watching tour” included orca, humpback whales, stellar sealions, seals, eagles, a variety of ducks and frequently black bears. Photos by

Peter Palstring 4-6

Sexing a Grizzly Bear

A common question on a grizzly tour is ” Is that a male or female grizzly bear?” If it has cubs or if it is a really large bear not to hard to answer. If not you need a grizzly to do what this one is doing on the beach: females urinate backward and males forward. Other than that often your guess is as good as mine unless it is a bear we see frequently and are able to identify. As the grizzly viewing part of the tour comes to an end it is time to head back to the lodge. Still on the look out for wildlife on the shore, in the air or coming out of the water. Photos by 

 

Peter Palstring 3-6

Large Grizzly Bear in Knight Inlet

Some of the Knight Inlet grizzlies are bigger than others and this is an example of a healthy grizzly bear. The good sized hump, belly a little closer to the ground (a fall belly rather than a June belly) and a good set of claws all indicate a larger bear. Grizzlies in the estuary accept our watching as long as we remain outside their comfort zone they pay little attention to our “annoying” picture taking. Photos by 

 

Peter Palstring 2-6

Grizzly Bears in a Knight Inlet Estuary

The viewing stands in Knight Inlet’s Glendale River are used after August 25th. The grizzly are in the spawning channel feeding on salmon however somedays the viewing in the estuary is not bad, this appears to be one of those days. These are “lunchtime photos” our lunchtime and it appears the bears also. This mother with last season’s cubs is eating sedge grass and later trying for a free meal. Photos by

Peter Palstring 1-6

Lodge safari wildlife tour to the River

The rivers along the BC coast, in the area of Knight Inlet are subject to extreme water level changes, which may wash out a bridge. This was not the case with Rick’s river rather it was an engineer who had a section of a bridge removed. After the fact no other official agrees with the decision but it takes time to have an error corrected. Until then we use a boat. Photos byBruce & Carole Cripps 10-11

Grizzly Bear Tour – first day

Your day for grizzly bear watching  you leave the lodge by 8:00 in the morning with a picnic lunch for a run up BC’s Knight Inlet to the grizzly bear viewing area of Glendale Cove. We use a boat made by Double Eagle, which means a lot to the guides as they are likely the best made boat on the BC coast. We share the tie up with a company from Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island. It is nice to have friends around when you are in a remote area. A pause and a picture break on the floating dock before heading to the viewing stands. Photos byBruce & Carole Cripps 3-11