These two first-year grizzly bear cubs spotted on a morning tour try to stay as dry as possible as they wait for mother to catch them another salmon. It is September 6th and the mother is still quite thin as she has to feed her cubs plus put on enough bulk to survive hibernation. Fortunately she has two months to achieve that goal.
Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Viewing Blog: Yearly Archives: 2016
Killer whales approaching tour 2 of 2
As usual as the male orca got closer to the front of the boat I moved to the back to allow the guests a better photo opportunity. After all I have seen orca before but the photo’s I have to post are less than dramatic but then I guess you will have to book your dates and bring your camera.
Killer whales approaching tour 1 of 2
Yes it is normal to have killer whales / orca travel in pods that are a complex matriarchal society. Sons and daughters stay with their mother throughout their lives, even after they have offspring of their own. However this does not mean that the larger and older males are always in close proximity they often travel separate but parallel to the family group. For photos it is good to find a large male as they are slower to come out of the water and when the tip of their large dorsal fin shows you have time for a photo. This photo leads to tomorrow’s post….
Pacific White-sided Dolphins Playing
Peder and Ann again capture the activity on one of their days from their visit in July, 2015. For me as a guide and I know from the guest comments this is one of the highlights of a day on the water – a group of Pacific White-sided Dolphins. Such a clear and sharp photo emphasizes the speed of these dolphins as they keep pace with our boat. The Marine Mammal Watching Guidelines say we are to stay one hundred meters from the dolphins but unfortunately or fortunately depending on your point of view the dolphins cannot read.
Active Humpback Whale Taillobbing
Peder and Ann, just so you know, Angus has informed me that the humpback that is tail slapping is called “Lucky”. If it was my photo with my point and shoot Pentax I would say that it was a lucky photo but from the number of great photos that you have sent us I know that there was a lot of skill involved. This type of behaviour from the humpback whales while we are on a whale watching tour has become much more common over the past few years but capturing such a good photo is still rare. Thank you.
Grizzly bear and cubs “working” the beach.
Even if I did not have the date on the photos to check by the size of these grizzly bear cubs one can tell it is mid July in Knight Inlet. Peder and Ann have captures the activity that we find on the beach at this time of year. The salmon have not arrived in the rivers so the grizzlies obtain much of their protein rolling rocks on the beach for the crabs, clams, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. The cubs may roll a few of the smaller rocks but mostly rely on mum. We have attracted the one cubs attention for a few minutes but it’s mother is only interested in food. Not to worry there were good photos face on but it is common to have the grizzly in this position as it is easier to roll rocks down hill.
Orca pod spy hopping?
Ian and Julie’s photo is another first in that is has multiple spy hops from a pod of killer whales. I remember the day but cannot recall the reason for this spy hopping. It obviously occurs when the orca want to see the above water activity which may be a fast moving boat, commercial fishing in the area and even saw spy hopping when one the “Whale Research Vessels” was flying a drone to get some pictures. Also note on shore in the right hand corner the campers on the beach watching the orca pass. There are numerous kayak camps along the shore which are very busy in the summer.
Humpback as a Grizzly Bear Lodge guest
A comment on their visit form our Southern neighbours Ian and Julie Anderson: “Just a note to thank you for a fantastic couple of days, we came away from your lodge in a state of amazement. We had so many wonderful experiences and have told everyone that they should go and see you.” The best advertisement we can get is an endorsement from our guests. Thank you very much. The first photo is mine just to show the location of the lodge in relation to Ian and Julie’s photos. We do occasionally get humpback whales in front of the lodge but they are normally located in the middle of the bay where you see the boat passing. All I can add is that all our guest manage to get good photos of grizzly bears but these photo of whales directly off shore in front of the lodge are a first as is the photo in tomorrows post.
Humpback diving and guide hoping!
I like David’s photo of the diving humpback whale diving as the swirls in the water shows the power of the dive. The vertical tail indicated that it will be a deep dive and for me that means that it “might” be followed by some lunge feeding or even a breach. These whales show up in out view waters near the north end of Vancouver Island is late May and rather than travelling north to Alaska stay is this area to feed because of the abundance of herring one of their preferred food. David thanks again for the great photos.
Spring Grizzly Bears Grazing
“It was wonderful to see our very first bear in the wild even if they were very skinny, I’m guessing they’re much fatter now!” A comment from David and Drina on their photos taken June 16, 2015. And David is correct on both accounts the spring grizzly bears of Knight Inlet are skinny as their main food is the sedge grass that this bear is eating. It is a little early for the many berries that ripen later in June and July. Once they are ripe the grizzlies have access to black, huckle, thimble, salmon and salal berries to name a few. And of course the salmon are not in the rivers in any great number until late August. David is also right that this bear was in great shape to hibernate after the two months of September and October fattening on the salmon.
