Good mother Grizzly BUT

grizzly bear and cubs

We watched this grizzly bear with her triplets most of the summer and she always had the same problem: two obedient cubs and one less obedient. The one cub and also the larger of the three was always lagging behind on the shore and along the river. When other grizzly bears approached it was always the last to respond to it’s mothers warnings but it did survive the summer and we hope to see it next year. Of the three it probably has the best chance because it was fatter.

Poor Timing

photographing wildlife

As I have mentioned at other times in the blog I am always trying to get photos, which show the guest interacting with the wildlife. This time was close as I managed the guest in the corner of the boat and the top of a killer whales dorsal fin and the splash of another passing near the stern of the boat. The idea is that sometime we are close and I am just not always successful but then my photos are really not the important ones.

Common murre – Murder?

orca play with ducks

Yes this is a “dead duck”, a common murre and we made sure we had a good photo. This was the proof of a murder and the guilty party was a transient killer whale. It was not a guess on my guest’s part as we saw a lone transient spend half an hour playing with and eventually killing four murres. I have seen this behaviour before but it was a small pod teaching their young the skill necessary to catch seals. Approach from beneath and throw it into the air but in this case it was an adult and not doing it for food.

Black Bears Feeding

black bear on the beach

This mother and black bear cub are also beach feed as was the grizzly in yesterdays post but they are spending most of their time turning over rocks in search of crab, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. Black bears do not normally have access to the salmon in the rivers because of the grizzlies, so much of their protein in from this beach food.

Grizzly Bears Feeding

grizzly bear scrape barnacles

Grizzly bears on the beach in June through August feed along the shores of Knight Inlet. On this day the meal is the barnacles and muscles they scrape off the rocks. And yes they eat them shell and all. If you look closely a the photo you will notice various areas around the bear that have already been scraped and that was not done by this grizzly as it just came down to the water edge. Some beach feeding is a little different as tomorrows post will show….

Killer Whale Morning

whale watching foggy morning

No it is not a “grainy” or “poor” photo it is an orca close to the boat on a misty morning. Some August mornings are like that, a little fog that burns off before noon. We call it “whales by braille” and although it makes it a little more challenging to locate the killer whales you get some interesting close up photos. Plus the whales tend to stay in the area for better “sunny” shots later in the day.

Immature bald eagle

immature bald eagle soars

Google says: Adult Bald Eagles have white heads and tails with dark brown bodies and wings. Their legs and bills are bright yellow. Immature birds have mostly dark heads and tails; their brown wings and bodies are mottled with white in varying amounts. Young birds attain adult plumage in about five years. In this case “Google” is correct but not always when dealing with birds and animals.

Grizzly Bears Approaching 2 of 2

grizzly bear mother

A mother grizzly bear with cubs will come to the salmon pools with a different approach. She needs to be aware of what/who is in the area before she commits to entering the feeding zone. This grizzly and cubs use a log that bridges the lower end to the pool and provides a good view of the area. All is safe and she enters the water with her family.

Grizzly Bears Approaching 1 of 2

grizzly bears coming to feed

When we use the grizzly bear viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River after August 24th there are number on approaches to the salmon pools. Grizzlies on their own tend to take the direct approach and walk boldly into the area and see who/what else may be at the pools feeding. On their own they are able to make a quick retreat if bigger bears are dominating the area. Tomorrows post shows a mother’s caution…

Dall’s and Humpback Whales

dolphins play with whales

We were off Cracroft Point this summer on a whale watching safari and spotted a humpback whale rolling on it’s back with pectoral fins in the air and as we moved closer saw a number of pacific white sided dolphins having some fun with the whale. Hard to move the boat closer with a camera in my hand so I put it down but missed a picture showing a few dall’s porpoise mixed in with the dolphins. This dall’s and dolphin mixture is even rarer than them playing with humpbacks which happens several times a summer.