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

Herring balls and humpback whales

Humpback Lunge

The seagulls in this photo are the key to good whale watching. Humpback whales in our area feed on herring. Diving ducks attack the herring from below and their defence is to form a tight mass of revolving herring (a herring ball) which moves to the surface. When the herring near the surface the gulls attack from above and that is what your guide wants to see. Once the gulls are spotted it is necessary to move toward the herring ball without making the ball disperse and then wait for a humpback whale to lunge up and eat the herring. On this attempt the humpback was faster than the guide to reach the herring so our view was from the distance but if you check the post’s from April 6th and 7th you can see that is not the norm.

 

 

Grizzly Bears Pause

Grizzly Pause

A grizzly pauses while fishing just below the viewing platform. It could be for a number of reasons but in the case of this grizzly it was likely to check on the location of her cubs.  She in the mother of triplets and has spent most of the summer in our viewing area which is the Glendale River basin of Knights Inlet. The triplets stay pretty close to each other and are always within mother’s call range. This call is a grunt or growl that is used as a means of communicating with her young and they are quick to respond.

 

 

From Grizzly Bear Lodge’s front deck

Grizzly Bear Lodge sunrise

When we get a sunrise it is beautiful. This is the start of one such sunrise. The problem the lodge is located in the microclimate of Knight Inlet that frequently brings an overcast sky at night. This overcast is gone by 11:00 but that is too late for a sunrise. If you go to “Categories” at the left and click on “The Lodge” you will see two or three pictures of sunrises  (if you scroll far enough down the page there is an excellent sunrise near the end).

 

 

Pacific White Sided Dolphins

Whitsides - Dolphins

Pacific white sided dolphins have the Latin name of “Lagenorhynchus obliquidens”, which is shortened to “Lags” because the Latin is too much of a mouthful to use over a VHF radio. These dolphins may travel in-groups that reach numbers of up to 2,000 or 3,000 but most often in-groups between 20 to 100. If you only see a couple keep a look out as there are usually more not too far off. These dolphins are playful and will often follow in the propwash of the boat or ride the bow wave. The best approach for a photo is to point and click as much as possible and upon returning to the Lodge delete all the pictures of the sky and water and maybe have some of the dolphins.

 

 

Grizzlies Walking Causeway

Triplets

This photo shows a mother grizzly and her cubs. She has three just not all in this photo, like kids some are a little wayward. The family is walking the causeway between the two viewing stands we use on the Glendale River after August 24th. To get a sense of the stand’s location if you go to “Pages” on the lower left side of this page and click on “Google Map of Itinerary” you will view a map showing Vancouver Island and four blue “Icons”.  If you zoom in on the icon to the right until the written name of Tom Brown Lake is large and easy to read. Click on the green square in the lower left corner and this becomes a Google Earth Map. Continue to zoom in slowly keeping the focus on the end of Tom Brown Lake closest to the blue icon. The zigzag of greenery is the trees surrounding the man made spawning channel. The “dirt coloured” area at the left corner of the spawning channel is the causeway between the two viewing platforms. Grizzly Bear Lodge tends to use the stand at the end of the causeway as it has water on three sides and more opportunity for bear viewing.

 

 

Trapper Rick’s Trap Demonstration

Trapper Rick's Trap

If you choose to spend the extra day at Grizzly Bear Lodge it is spent with Trapper Rick. We cross Knight Inlet and pass through Thompson Sound to the Kakweikan River which is located on the BC mainland. We travel by road to Rick’s cabin that is located overlooking a feeding area used by the grizzly bears after the salmon arrive.  The day includes short hikes, spin fishing for salmon for those who are interested, great photos of the incredible scenery and a picnic lunch. Rick is very passionate about the grizzlies and other wildlife in his river valley and this passion is evident in his willingness to share with his guests. On this day he was demonstrating the humane traps he used in his years of trapping.

 

 

Watching a Killer Whale Family

Pod of orca

“Pods are actually their own matriarchal family groups. Animals born into a pod, stay in the pod their entire lives. This is like living with your mother, aunts, uncles, cousins and brothers and sisters all descendant from your mother’s side of the family for your whole life. It is extremely rare for an Orca from one pod to be accepted or join with another pod of whales. The gene pool gets mixed up by not having any father within the same pod. Each pod has their own ‘dialect’ of communication through various squeaks, burbles, and whistles.
The term “Whale” is a misnomer since the Orca is actually from the dolphin family. We associate “whale” with something very large and they are much larger than the majority of dolphins. They are a whale of a dolphin.”

This quote was taken from the website Whales and Dolphins BC which is a great site to visit if you are interested in more information.

 

 

“Boss” Grizzly Bear

Large grizzly bear

For some grizzly bears in our viewing area the term “boss” is appropriate and this is one of those bears. The photo was taken from the viewing platform on the Glendale River that we use after August 24th. Although it is great to see one of the large grizzlies it is better if they appear at the end of the two-hour viewing time. If they are present when we arrive no other bears will come to fish until they leave. The larger older males are a little shy and are more commonly seen on the road while driving to the platform or in the portion of the spawning we pass on the last half mile of the drive.

 

 

Guest comfort zone

Grizzly bear on a river

On this day we were moving up Knight Inlet’s Glendale River in the lodge’s flat bottom skiff. As normal your guide is in the water pulling the skiff quietly when some grizzlies appeared walking down river. We moved to the opposite side of the river leaving the wide gravel bar to the bears so they would have good passage. Rule one is if the bears look at you look down so not to be a challenge; two no sudden moves or load noises. Mostly common sense and yes pictures are OK. Distance to the grizzlies 15 to 20 meters (yards) and it is safe. One guest mentioned that this was close to the edge of his “comfort zone” but the key thing that you need to remember is the guides of Grizzly Bear Lodge have each been doing this for more than fifteen years and more important is that they also have families they want to see again.

 

Time for a Grizzly Bear Tour

Tour to go

Mornings on the water can be a little cool so many guest wear the “floater suite” provided by Grizzly Bear Lodge. If you don’t wear them they must be in the boat as they are your lifejackets. If you are acclimatized to the West Coast the suits are not necessary as this guest demonstrates. On most days, by noon, the suits are in the front of the boat. Departure from the lodge is by 7:30 or 8:00     depending on the time of the year and this is after a 6:30 or 7:00 wake up call and a good breakfast. A picnic lunch is a must as we normally return between 3:30 and 4:30 depending on the tour. The only tight schedule is the fall trips to the grizzly bears when we use the viewing stands and we must be in the stands by 10:00 all other trips are flexible.