This photo is much harder to get than one of a grizzly bear. Although the sun does rise every morning it is often behind the layer of cloud that hangs over BC’s Knight Inlet. By mid-morning the clouds have burned off but it is past sunrise time. Actually while on the whale watching tours it is nice to have a little cloud cover as it is better for photos than the bright sun reflecting off the water.
The herring ball mentioned in the May 14th is an ideal place for bald eagles to feed. The summer of 2015 on the BC coast was a summer with an abundance to eagles. This photo was one chosen from a group that had over thirty eagles feeding in one area. Two of the eagles without the white heads (means they were born this summer) are learning to pick herring out of the water. They follow one of their parents on a diving run and copy their technique hoping for success.
It is after August 24th and we are watching grizzly bears from the viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. This mother with larger cubs than yesterday’s post is waiting for salmon to move into the shallow water. About 20 meters (yards) to this bear’s left is a school of several thousand salmon in a holding pool. The pool is two meters deep which makes it hard to catch the salmon so the grizzlies wait for them to move up the channel over the weir to the spawning area. The approach to the weir is shallow and a good place to fish.
This photo could be from this time of the year because Grizzly Bear Lodge starts their wildlife tours in mid-May however the cubs are a little large so I would make it mid-June. In the early spring the bears are on the beach to turnover rocks. This inter-tidal zone “food” is high in protein and is made up of crab, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. The “beach food” is important because berries are relatively scarce during spring and bears will continue to loose weight until well into June.
Even used Thesaurus.com to try and find a better word than herding but I could not because that is what these duck are doing to the herring. It is a little hard to see in this photo but the dark shapes with white patches are common murres under water feeding on a school of herring. The herrings defense is to form a ball that revolves within itself. We are next to this herring ball on a whale watching tour because there are NO humpback whales close. If they were close we would be back from the herring ball because they like to lunge feed and you do not want to be to close if that is happening. Check May 9th post.
Dall’s porpoises are speed demons reaching speeds up to 55 km/hr. They suddenly appear out of nowhere and disappear the same way. Although they ride in both bow and stern wakes of boats, they seldom stay for very long. Next to impossible to get a photo if you are moving but frequently if the boat stops suddenly while they are playing they will come to investigate and it is possible to get “under water” photos. The white in the corner of the photo is the edge of our boat.
This is more common than one would think. It is not a result of the lack of other food it is more because seaweed is full of vitamins and minerals –vitamins: A, C, E, K and B and minerals: iodine, selenium, calcium and iron. Not sure how many grizzly bears have a degree in advanced nutrition but over the centuries they seem to have learned what is good for their system.
In the spring grizzly bears come to the Glendale River estuary to feed on the sedge grass as it is up to 25% protein and the berries in the coastal forests are not yet available. At lower tides when more of the beach is exposed the bears will spent more time turning over rocks in the inter-tidal zone looking for food high in protein such as crab, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. Much of a grizzly’s time in the spring is spent in search of food. This changes in the fall once the salmon arrive and food is more abundant. Spring grizzly bear watching is along the shore from the water while the fall viewing is from a stationary platform.
A sea lion haul-out is an interesting place to visit but you would not choose it as a good location for a picnic lunch. First is the constant roar. Scientist say roaring is a way that they can protect their territory when they feel threatened. This is often enough to get both humans and other animals to leave them alone. There are many sites on “YouTube” that give you an idea of the volume of the roar but nearly all of them are for “one” seal lion whereas most of the time we are viewing thirty or forty sea lions. Second is the smell. Enough said.
I have been guiding whale watching and grizzly bear trips at the lodge for over fifteen years and I still am impressed when a humpback whale is feeding less than 20 meters (60 feet) from the boat. As majestic as the killer whale is on the water the humpbacks with all their lobtailing and feeding are slowing becoming a favourite of our guests.
Bald Eagles are frequently sighted in our area. At times they can be seen in large numbers. This is usually where food supplies are high. For example this could be in areas with high concentrations of baitfish or along the rivers in the fall when the salmon are spawning. They are not migratory, but do move around with the food supply. As mentioned earlier when the salmon are spawning we often see many along the rivers, while there will be fewer along the coastline. With little need for camouflage their white head and tail feathers can be spotted easily. The female is slightly larger and her white head extends down a bit farther onto the body, but it is subtle. It takes these birds 4.5 – 5 years to acquire this unique plumage. As juveniles they are a brown colour. With exceptional eyesight and the ability to view 270 degrees they are understandably often seen in high perches and in trees near points and passageways.
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