This photo was a little far off for my Olympus TG 4 camera but my guests sure got some great shot. It was a morning that involved allot of activity within the pods of killer whales. There was spyhopping, tail slapping and even the occasional breach which nobody caught on camera. Reason I show this is because it is my first double spyhop.
Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Viewing Blog: Monthly Archives: December 2016
Grizzly Bear Confrontation
This does not look to exciting until you hear the background story: The dark grizzly was a large male that my guests had named “grumpy”. He came into the viewing area where there was about twelve bears and started to push his weight around and made several juvenile gears move further up the river. The blond bear is a mother with two second year cubs. Lesson – never mess with a mother. She came at the male, this was about ten meters from our cameras, so we could hear her low growl and the clacking of her teeth. The male thought better and moved off and left the other bears to fish. He never left the area but had a much better attitude for the rest of the morning.
Grizzly Back Massage
For perspective the pile of rocks at the bottom of this photo are the same pile of rocks at the top left corner of the photo on the December 1st post. That means that this grizzly is less than 15 meters (yards) from the viewing platform and still doing what bears do in the wild. To the grizzly bears we are part of the natural surroundings and are ignored unless someone forgets to turn off their flash or gets to excited and raises their voice. We are predictable that is why the viewing times are set each day.
Also After Telegraph Cove
Not a particularly good photo of a humpback whale diving but I liked the sparkle on the water. Being that I am writing the blog and get to pick the photos, this it what you get. I know that if you scroll through the past posting you will find some great tail shots. This just shows that every day on the water is different and I never know what will make a memorable picture for guests.
After Telegraph Cove
After stopping in Telegraph Cove (see yesterday’s post) we head back onto the water for the second half of the day which means stellar sea lions in the spring and fall as the migrate between California and Alaska. This September day is unusual because all seems quiet on the sea lions haul out. Normally when there are this many stellar sea lions on one rock it becomes a mass of moving bodies with all of them wanting their complaints heard.
Telegraph Cove Break
Telegraph Cove is on Vancouver Island, two and one half hours north of Campbell River by car, is an important stop on a day’s whale watching. Important because it has a great public bathroom and a coffee shop that serves hot beverages. We have a good picnic lunch and lots of bottled water and soft drinks but on most days the bathroom is the first choice for our guests.
Spring Grizzly Bear Viewing
From late May to August 24th grizzly bear watching from our lodge takes place on the shores of Knight Inlet and in the estuary of the Glendale River. Grizzlies alternate between eating berries, digging roots, grazing on sedge grass and rolling rock in search of protein. This low tide offers a good beach for this sub-adult grizzly to spend hours on the beach to obtain enough food to keep it alive until the salmon arrive in mid-August.
Down River from Viewing Platform 2 of 2
Twelve minutes later on the same day a mother grizzly with three cubs came out of the bush where the cubs are standing. She was checking the area behind the rocks for salmon before moving into the holding pool and closer to the viewing stands.
BEST GUEST BLOG
Please.
This is a great site to visit to get a “guest eye view” of a trip to our lodge.
Click on this link
http://www.masey.com.au/2010/08/dream-grizzly-trip-day-one/
Also: -if you search “You Tube” using the keyword SAILCONE you can view some videos from and about the lodge.
-and on Facebook at Grizzly Bear Lodge and Safari
To view a map of the lodge’s area and the location of each day’s itinerary”
Look to the left and scroll the sidebars to “Categories” and select “Wildlife Tour Itinerary” It is possible to navigate the map using the arrows in the upper left corner and to zoom using the + or – signs as well as changing to a satellite view in the upper right corner of the map.
It is possible to navigate the map using the arrows in the upper left corner and to zoom using the + or – signs as well as changing to a satellite view in the upper right corner of the map.
Down River from Viewing Platform 1 of 2
The viewing platform used by Grizzly Bear Lodge on the Glendale River has the natural river on one side and end and the holding pool to the salmon spawning channel on the other side. This photo shows the river in the background and the entrance to the holding pool. This is also the easiest access for the grizzlies as they walk up river. In this case the juvenile grizzly on the log had just moved quickly from the gravel bar to the log and then into the bush. A few minutes later after the larger adult male had moved into the pool it came back out to see if it was safe to come and fish. It was and it did.