Grizzly bear watching prior to August 25th is also on the Glendale River but it takes place from a flat bottom skiff that allows us to move through the river and its estuary in very shallow water. In this case a mother grizzly and her cub are walking the beach and turning over rocks in search of protein in the form of crabs, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. Note the photo is from eye level which is different that the downward view of viewing stand photographs.
All posts by Lodge Guide
Grizzly Bear Watching 1 of 2
This photo is the extreme of the point I want to make in this post. Grizzly bear watching after August 24th takes place from viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. All photographs will have a downward angle as we are higher than the bears. They are either in the water catching salmon, walking the shore or approaching the viewing stands or in this case directly below the stands.
Working 2 of 2
A killer whale / orca’s working speed is much faster than a humpback as it is looking for salmon. This orca had been circling the area of our boat as we sat and watched it feed. This time if surfaced under a “full head of steam” before it dove again nearer the boat to continue it’s search for food. Again as in January 17th post my guests did not complain.
Reason to Be Here
This photo is the reason that Grizzly Bear Lodge exists. If there were no fish in Knight Inlet’s Glendale River there would be no reason for the grizzlies to come to the area and therefore no need for the lodge to serve the guests to view the bears. Also the lack of salmon along the coast means the killer whales and fishermen would move to an area of plentiful food. This is the view from the grizzly bear viewing platform we use on the Glendale River.
Working 1 of 2
The working aspect of this post has two meanings. First I am working and the only reason it can be classified as that is because I get paid, other than that it is just fun. The second one working is the humpback whale as it passes along the shore looking for more herring to fill it’s demand for food. Note the bar in the lower left corner of the photo is the metal bar on our boat which holds the radar. So yes the whale is close.
Not Looking 2 of 2
Mission accomplished. This sub-adult grizzly passed directly beneath the viewing platform and received no complaints from my guests. It is not everyone that can say they were two meters (six feet) above a grizzly bear’s back and could have jumped onto the back (but only once).
Not Looking 1 of 2
Grizzly bears avoid direct eye contact as this may be perceived as a challenge or threat. This bear is walking toward our viewing stand and wants to pass close by so it avoids eye contact by looking down. It is aware of our presence but we are in a raised platform which makes the bear uncomfortable and it just wants to pass. As it does in the next post…
Photo Photographing a Bear 3 of 3
..fast forward to 9/2/2015 12:32 pm and our viewing is over and we have driven back to the landing to take our skiff back to the float to eat lunch. We had just parked our vehicle and were getting out to walk down the road when we had company. Back into the vehicle until Bella and her three cubs moved across the road and far enough along the beach until it was safe to complete our trip to the float. This took about fifteen minutes but the guests did not seem to mind. They thought it was interesting that we were delayed by grizzlies when we wanted to watch bears and again when we were through watching bears.
Hard to See
Just out of it’s nest this bald eagle was hard to spot sitting in a tree. Lacking the white head and tail feathers, which do not start to appear until their third year, they blend with the trees. Note that even the beak and talons are not yet the bright yellow of an adult.
Photo Photographing a Bear 2 of 3
Today’s and tomorrow’s posts are interesting and tied together. This post is when we are waiting for the lodge using the viewing stand to leave their viewing time so we can drive up to the stands. We are visited by a mother grizzly bear and three cubs on their way to the area of the stands to fish. We know this because we see them below the stands a little later. At the time of this photo the mother is in the background and the cubs are chewing on the tires of the white van. Time stamp on the photo 9/2/2015 9:29 am…..
