Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Viewing Blog: Monthly Archives: October 2013

Whale Watching Safari

whale tail
Click to enlarge then click again

This summer we were fortunate to have several humpback mothers and calves remain in Grizzly Bear Lodge’s whale viewing area.  The calves, at times, became very active often repeating fluke (tail) slaps ten to fifteen times in a row. These would frequently occur as a backward slap, meaning the top of the fluke would be hitting the water. The calves would also roll and twist and try to through their tails sideways out of the water. This photo taken by Angus shows how close the whales do come to boats (in this case my boat) while they are playing.

Breaching Humpback Whale

humpback breaaching
Click to enlarge then click again

The summer of 2013 has been a very active year for humpback whales. Many breaching whales and it seemed that the rougher the water the more the whales breached. An average whale safari day guests would view ten to twelve different humpbacks. Many opportunities for photos of lunge feeding whales and frequent breaches however not always captured on film as they do not give notice prior to these activities.

Grizzly Bear Enjoying a Meal

grizzly caught salmon
Click to enlarge then click again

Grizzly bears will often sit in the pool on one side of the viewing stand used by Grizzly Bear Lodge and eat their meal.  It is a simple as reaching into the water and pulling up dead and wounded salmon that have drifted down the river. Others bears are actively fishing thirty or forty meters up stream in the shallower water but the easier methods are often to wait for the fish to come to you.

Large Male Grizzly

large male grizzly with salmon
Click to enlarge then click again

It seems that most of the guests want to see a large grizzly bear when Grizzly Bear Lodge goes to the viewing stands on the Glendale River, however as a guide it is not my choice.  From experience if there is a large grizzly by the stands that may be the only bear you see on that visit.  The large males tend to dominate the area and the other grizzly bears especially those with cubs will wait until the male has left the area. Fortunately the really large males are not as comfortable around people and seem to come to fish in the area of the viewing stands outside of the designated viewing times.  We know this because of the motion sensor cameras that have being used in the past.

Grizzly Bear Siblings

grizzly crossing river
Click to enlarge then click again

It is common to see sub-adult grizzly siblings together on the Lodge’s grizzly bear tours. These two spent sometime in Knight Inlet’s Glendale River estuary ”playing”.  Depending on food abundance, mother grizzlies may keep their yearlings a second (even a third) year, denning together again and breaking up in the third (or fourth) year. Alone and vulnerable, siblings will often stay together for some time after their mother abandons them, 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 their female counterparts. Even though males are capable of breeding at three or four years of age, they rarely have the opportunity to do so because of intense competition from older, bigger males.

 

Rare – Great Bear Rainforest Wolf

wolf
Click to enlarge then click again

In the area of Grizzly Bear Lodge’s wildlife tours sightings of wolves is very rare however this year was the exception-viewing wolves on five different occasions. These Great Bear Rainforest wolves, on British Columbia’s coast, are red or salmon-colored and are a subspecies of gray wolves. They roam the estuaries and swim up to ten kilometers between the remote islands searching for salmon; Sitka black tailed deer, and even intertidal crustaceans.  These wolves make more than 75% of their living from marine resources like the salmon, beached whales and seals?

 

Killer whale (orca) calf

orca calf
Click to enlarge then click again

A great photo of an orca calf not quite in sync with its family. Wildlife viewing from Grizzly Bear Lodge, in this case your day with the whales, most often includes time spent with the orca (killer whales or Blackfish) and a opportunity for great pictures. The pods of orca most often encountered are the resident or fish eating orca.

Pacific White-sided Dolphins

do;pnis on the surface
Click to enlarge then click again

 

Susan MacKay spends much of her summers in the area that Grizzly Bear Lodge goes for its whale watching tours. This photo to use a quote from Susan is a “Pacific White Sided Dolphin is a long name for a relatively small marine mammal. And the Latin name is even more of a mouthful, so they are also called Lags for short. It’s a much easier name to explain exactly what species of cetacean is seen, especially over a marine radio.  … Lags can travel quickly reaching speeds of up to 25 knots (almost 30 mph or 47 kph) effortlessly. They are very acrobatic and their frequent airborne flips and leaps can reach extreme heights.” In this case it seems to think it is a torpedo.

Grizzly Bear First Year Cub

grizzly cub walking river
Click to enlarge then click again

The grizzly viewing stands used by Grizzly Bear Lodge after August 24th has a backside or other side (as “back side” might infer that the viewing is not a good) which is the natural Glendale River. In this case a first year cub was following it’s mother and pass along the edge of the river beneath the stand. It was quite curious and keeps a close eye on the “humans” in the stand directly above. The mother on the other hand ignored the “viewers” in the stand.

Grizzly bear showing catch

playing grizzly
Click to enlarge then click again

The viewing stand used by Grizzly Bear Lodge on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River overlooks a pool filled with salmon.  The grizzly bears that come to feed in the pool pick the salmon from the bottom and remain in the water while they consumer their catch. It is an energy efficient way to feed, as they are not chasing salmon in the shallow water rather sitting in one place and eating. This grizzly displays a moth full of salmon as well as the remains of the salmon in its paw.