….the second is the bear with a salmon in its mouth. Note: I used (Pentax Optio Wpi 6MP and 3X Optical Zoom) that does not have a great zoom feature but I know the guests got great pictures. It is an interesting sensation watching a grizzly when the river is not that deep and the bear could cross without much effort. And even though Rick knows the grizzlies and has spent twenty years on the river he is still armed and prepared.
Your extra day at the lodge is a tour with Trapper Rick who is cross Knight Inlet, through Thompson Sound to the Kakweikan River. This remote river is located on the BC mainland and we travel by road, cross a river by boat and a short level hike to Rick’s cabin. Just below the cabin about 200 meters (yards) on the river one is able to sit and overlook and area where the grizzly bears come to fish salmon. The first photo shows guests looking across the river….
There were four or five orca close to the stern of the boat but I only managed to catch one in the photo. Some times the grass is green on the other side of the fence.
On or whale watching trips we travel to BC’s Johnstone Strait area to watch (visit) the killer whales but some days we are the ones being visited. If you use the map mentioned in yesterday’s post you will be able to view the whale watching area. On this day I was photographing orcas near the bow of the boat with one of the guests and turned to call the other guest to come forward and found that it was not necessary. See tomorrow’s post…
The fall grizzly bear watching trips are from two viewing platforms located on a man made spawning channel adjacent to the Glendale River. If you go to to “Categories” and select “Wildlife Tour Itinerary” and follow the instructions you will have an excellent aerial view of the platforms. The platforms are about 3 meters (10 feet) off the ground, covered with room form eight to ten people but we limit tours to a maxim of five. The bears are fishing for salmon although they do stop to eat grass and berries.
Spring grizzly bear tours are from mid-May to August 24th. This is the date we are permitted to use the viewing platform on the Glendale River. The spring tours are along the shore of Knight Inlet, Glendale Cove and in the Glendale River. Along the Inlet the grizzlies scrap the barnacles and muscles from the rocks as shown in the photo. In the Cove they turn over 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 plant food is relatively scarce during spring and bears will continue to loose weight until well into June. In the river they graze on sedge grass, dig root, and enjoy the berry patches. There is allot of activity along the shore and the grizzlies are close and at eye level for good photos.
This is the reason to park the boat in the area of a bait ball but not on top of the ball. A humpback whales is very aware of its surroundings but I do not wish to test their awareness with the bottom of my boat because I think we might lose. Although it appears that this lunging humpback missed many of the herring it must have got enough to satisfy itself because there was not a second lunge.
By definition: A bait ball, or baitball, occurs when small fish swarm in a tightly packed spherical formation about a common center. It is a last-ditch defensive measure adopted by small schooling fish when they are threatened by predators. The occurrences of a herring ball is very common in the area we go for whale watching but photographs are not as common. Not common because bait balls attract whales and you do not want to be sitting over a ball of herring when a whale decides to feed. So we only approach the bait ball when there are no whales in sight and that does not happen often. See tomorrow’s post…
It is mid September at Grizzly Bear Lodge as one of the local fishing lodges is being towed back to its protected winter base. Aside from the variety of marine wildlife (orca, humpback whales, seals, sealions, dolphins, porpoise, bald eagles, many different water birds, swimming black bears) this area also has “work” related activities: commercial fishing; tugs towing floats, barges, log booms; cruise ships; seaplanes arriving and departing etc. That is to say there is never a dull moment on a tour and many opportunities for interesting photos.
Most often when humpback whales do their slapping they are nose down or hanging in the water. They may slap in an anterior or posterior position (belly or back) and either way it is loud. As with orca tail slapping humpbacks can be heard underwater by other whales many miles away so it may be used for communication or remove a build up of parasites and barnacles from the tail. The reason is interesting and the photos can be sensational.
Just like that our season has come to an end. I would like to thank all of our wonderful guests and staff who made this year a huge success. I am happy to stay that all of our team is planning to return next season. We are actively taking bookings, with dates starting June 1 2025. Hope to see many of you next season.
The wildlife viewing this season was awesome. A couple highlights that come to mind was the shear number of salmon in our local rivers, as well as the abundance of Resident Orca. With salmon returns being so strong this year, we were happy to see bears in excellent condition. By the end of our season most of the bears had packed on a lot of weight and were getting very “picky” about what parts of the salmon they would eat. Hopefully this will translate into more cubs being born this winter. Another positive was the weather conditions. We had enough rain to keep our fire risks low and it made for some excellent wild berries. The bears took full advantage of this, with the berry season extending far past its normal conclusion. This did mean that we had to work hard to find bears during our summer season, (as they were often feeding on the berries deep into the forest), but moving forward it is excellent that they had such an abundant food supply. The Humpbacks also didn’t disappoint, with great numbers and a few new calves returning with their mothers to feed. After a slower year for resident Orca sightings, this season was one of the best that I can remember. In fact as Im writing this the A62 and A23’s are still being spotted in the area by dedicated biologists. Strong numbers of Chinook and Chum salmon are providing them with a steady food source. There are a lot of positive signs and we are hopeful that 2025 will be another great season.
Over the winter and spring we will be doing some repairs and maintenance. We plan on having a new cedar front deck built in time for the 2025 season, as well as new ceilings and paint in parts of the lodge and rooms. Theres always projects on the go.
Felix, Julien, Ryan, Zack and Myself all look forward to welcoming guest in June. See everyone soon.
Angus Reid
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