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

Grizzly Move Over

grizzly on causeway

Viewing grizzly bears after August 24th means that we drive over a logging road to viewing platforms that overlook the entrance to a man-made spawning channel. The stand we use is located at the end of a finger of land that goes between the channel and the natural river so we have water on three sides. This also means the road we use is also the road the bears use when crossing from the river to the entrance to the spawning area. Grizzlies frequently pass close to the stands and as we leave the area after our allotted time we often need to stop and wait for bears to clear the road.

 

 

Grizzly Bear Lodge

Grizzly Bear Lodge

Almost a complete photo. It shows the dock and boats used on the three different day trips. One up Knight Inlet to the grizzly bears, a second to Johnstone Straits to the marine wildlife, and the third to Trapper Rick’s if you choose to stay the extra day. Next the main lodge which normally accommodates six guests has a large deck where guests spend their time off the water sharing pictures. The next building is owners, Angus and Krystle’s cabin. Missing just past this is the water front cabin, which accommodates two more guests bringing the lodge total to eight. So if you want to avoid the crush of a lodge with thirty plus guests you are reading the right blog.

 

 

Humpback Whale Breaching

Humpback Whale

It is not that we do not see allot of whale activity it is just rare to have the camera pointed in the right direction when it happens. In the past five years the numbers of humpback whales in our viewing area has increased from two or three a trip to more than a dozen. On your whale watching trip from the lodge there are all the marine life mentioned in the September 2nd posting as well as a very active humpback population. We frequently see whales lunge feeding, tail lopping (slapping) and breaching the challenge is to get the perfect photo. At times it is necessary to remind guests to put down the camera and just enjoy.

 

Grizzlies Fighting or Playing?

Grizzly bears fighting

Although this may look like a serious fight it is not. In late August after the salmon appear in the Glendale River the number of bears in the area increases from 10 to 12 to more than 40 but there is still so much food that it is not necessary to fight for a fishing spot. These are siblings doing what they normally do after they have had enough to eat – playing.

 

 

Extra Day In Camp

Trapper's cabin

If you choose the extra day in camp we cross Knight Inlet pass through Thompson Sound to the Kakweikan River and spend a day with Trapper Rick.  This wild river is located on the BC mainland and we travel by old logging roads to the river we cross then a fifteen-minute hike to Rick’s cabin. The above photo is of Rick’s cabin while the lower photo shows the view from the cabin’s deck. Looking down the river past the falls there are good spots to fish for salmon or trout if you are interested the only caution is that you may be sharing the area with other fishers (not people but grizzlies). This past season was a good one for sharing and many guests obtained excellent photos of Rick’s bears.

Cabin View

 

 

 

 

 

Black Bear Island Hopping

black bear crossing

When you come to Grizzly Bear Lodge all tours that leave the lodge are by boat because we are on an island which is one of several hundred in the area at the mouth of Knight Inlet. If you click on “Google Map Of Itinerary” at the top of this page, then click on the green square in the lower left corner and this becomes a Google Earth Map. It is then possible to zoom in to view the number of varying sized islands. The point of all this is to show that if a bear wants to move around in the area at some time it must swim. This bear is not a particularly fat bear or you would see more of it’s back out of the water but they are interesting to follow as long as you stay back to one side so as not to prevent them from going ashore. However at times we have blocked them from shore when that shore happens to be our island.

 

 

Grizzly Cooling Off?

mating grizzlies

Spring grizzly bear tours from the Lodge are looking for bears along the shore of Knight Inlet but mostly in bay and estuary of the Glendale River. The grizzlies come to the shore for the protein rich sedge grass and to turn over rocks for the crabs, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. The male grizzlies come in late May and June, as this is the mating season and also the reason that this female is in the water. A male grizzly kept moving along the shore as this female stayed in the water for close to an hour until he moved back up the beach. The August 1st posting shows this determined male.

 

Visiting Killer Whales / Orca

Visiting killer whale

Some orcas do not believe in the 100 meter (yard) distance set out in the Whale Watching Guidelines. But this was a good day because the warden that oversees these guidelines was near us and watched the orca approach and circle our boat. Talking with her after it moved back to it’s passing pod she thought that we must have been sitting over a school of salmon and it came to fish. The reason is interesting but the experience is what the guests will remember. The days whale watching tour from Grizzly Bear Lodge spends most of its time in the Johnstone Strait adjacent to Vancouver Island where we normally observe orca, humpback whales, porpoise, dolphins, harbour seals, Steller sea lions, bald eagles, a variety of sea birds and frequently black bears.

 

 

Grizzly Bear Lodge Sunrise

Grizzly Bear Lodge Sunrise

Cannot guarantee a beautiful sunrise every morning but most mornings are overcast due to the moderating effect of Knight Inlet. Knight Inlet is the largest of the major inlets in the southern part of British Columbia’s West Coast. It is 111 km (69 miles) in length and about 2.9 km (1.8 miles) wide on average. This area of the BC coast tends to become overcast in the evening and clears before noon but it is rare to see the stars at night or a morning sunrise. For picture taking the overcast is better than a bright sun when you are in a boat with the reflection of the water.