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

Humpback Whale Close

Humpback Whale Tail

If I recall this photo correctly it was one on the few times I have seen a humpback whale passing under our boat. We often eat our picnic lunch in the same area that the humpbacks are feeding. Of course at lunchtime the motor is off and we drift quietly. It is common at this time for whales to surface near the boat but this was the rare time when it continued and we could see it under the boat.

 

Grizzly Bear Siblings

Grizzly siblings fishing

Female grizzlies reach sexual maturity at 4.5 years and males at roughly the same age as their female counterparts. For this reason it is common for siblings to stay together after they leave their mother and even den together until one becomes pregnant and dens on her own. These siblings may share a den, spend time together and fish together but they will not share this salmon. When if comes to food it is “winner keeps not shares”.

 

 

Big enough for a small Grizzly

Male Balck Bear

This photo shows a large male black bear in the late fall. Late fall because it has had a long time to fatten on all the berries and the protein it scavenged from the beach. On your first evening on the lodge we go on an hour plus tour looking for black bear and every trip from the lodge runs along the shore looking for black bears. This past season all the guests saw grizzlies but not everyone saw a black bear. The berries were plentiful this year and lasted longer than normal so there were fewer bears on the beach. However the bears we saw were big.

 

 

Steller sealions at rest?

Steller sea lions

This was one of those rare times when the sealions were actually resting and not roaring and climbing over each other. But if you look closely you do not see any young sealions only the adults. It is the young that come out of the water and want to move to the top of the rock what cause all the problems and noise. The quiet only lasted five minutes and it turned to chaos and better opportunities for photos of roaring sealions.

 

 

Caught one 2 of 2

Grizzly fishing

Another technique used by grizzly bears for catching salmon is to walk along the shore and select the one you want to eat. This worked well last summer for several weeks after a hot period and no rain. The water in the river and spawning channel was very low and got very warm causing close to a thousand fish to suffocate and provide easy meals for the bears.

 

 

Caught one 1 of 2

Grizzlies in river estuary

Grizzly bear watching in August after the salmon have arrived can be very entertaining. As the tide rises we move up the river with the salmon and meet the grizzlies as they come down river to fish for salmon. It is important to note that not all grizzlies are not created equal when it comes to fishing. Many of the younger bears use the “dash and splash technique”, which is great for photos but not for catching salmon. On this day the one bear used the “wait and it will come to me approach” and was very successful. This catch was its third of the morning.

 

 

Everybody gets a Killer Whale

research vessele

The above photo shows an orange zodiac very close to the orca and this is permissible if you are a research vessel however it should be flying a “research” flag. The photo below shows what happens if you wait patiently in the right place, the killer whales come to you.

Killer whales close

 

 

 

Traffic jam at Trapper Rick’s

Grizzly blocking road

On your extra day in camp we cross Knight Inlet pass through Thompson Sound to the Kakweikan River and spend a day with Trapper Rick.  This river located on the BC mainland is accessible only by boat. From the dock we travel by truck to Rick’s cabin and occasionally find Grizzly Bears on the road. We followed this bear down the road for five or six minutes until it reached its destination and turned into the forest. The roads are a main highway for the bears as travel is easier then forest trails and being that Rick’s truck is the only one using the road there is no traffic congestion.

 

 

Guest complain about food

Dinner

The main complaint we receive from the guests is that they now know why they are asked to keep the weight of their luggage down because if they didn’t the plane would not get off the water due to weight gain. Looks like halibut, salmon, peas, rice or couscous, eggplant casserole, do not forget the fresh homemade bread at the other end of the table and wine. And this is after either homemade soup or salad. Dinner is a social time served by and eaten with your guides and the only rule we abide by is “What happens in the boat stays in the boat unless the guest mentions it first.”.

 

 

Tail led to Lunge

Good Tail for humpback

Our viewing area for humpback whales is off the mouth of Knight Inlet. On a flood (rising) tide the herring move toward the shore and this brings the humpbacks from deeper water. The herring are forced into tight schools known as “herring balls”, which vary in size of a basketball to the size of a small boat. The humpback whales dive deep (above photo) to come up beneath the ball with mouth open (photo below) and that is lunch. I say lunch because that is normally what we are doing while we watch the whales, eating our picnic lunch.

Humpback lunge feeding