The mother prior to this picture had caught and shared two salmon with her cubs. The large female in this photo had caught her first fish when the mother came over and took it away…
All posts by Lodge Guide
A Grizzly story in Six parts 1 of 6
Our lodge, after August 24th, uses viewing platforms on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. On this day in mid-September a mother with two cubs were “sharing” a prime fishing area with two other grizzly bears. The mother was an aggressive bear but the cubs tended to stay back in a nook in the bank unless a salmon had been caught…
Black Bear mother and cub
Although all species of bears, including black and grizzly bears, are technically of the order Carnivora, they are essentially omnivores that eat plants, insects, fish, and animals. On this day we watched this mother and cub for more than thirty minutes as they moved along the beach turning over rocks in search of food that is high in protein and is made up of crab, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. These two also ate some seaweed and finished off their search in a patch of salal berries. It was a learning time for the cub as it followed mother and copied her every action.
Transient Orca 2 of 2
Yesterdays and today’s photo shows that not all days are ideal whale watching days but it is still possible to get some good pictures. On this day we were trying to keep up with a pod of transient orca with three other boats but we had all lost contact so shut off our motors to wait. We were the lucky boat in that they popped up all around our boat. As today’s photo shows they circled the boat and came quite close. The advantage of the rougher waters is that the orcas tend to come out of the water a little more to breathe.
Transient Orca 1 of 2
“Transient Orca are meat eaters and are frequently seen preying on seal, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises and even larger whales. Transient Orca seem to come and go. As their name implies, they are transient whales and just pass through. It is unclear as to their actual territory, if they even have one. These whales have been seen coming into the inside Strait of Georgia from the top end of Vancouver Island by Cape Scott and leaving at the bottom end by Victoria. Perhaps they circumnavigate Vancouver Island as well as meander back up or down our inside passages. They are routinely seen in the inside waters of BC.” Quote from: Whales and Dolphins BC / Wild Ocean Whale Society (WOWs) a great site to visit to learn more about marine life on the Bc coast. More tomorrow…
Grizzly Bears Cubs work
Grizzly bear watching prior to August 25th is along the shore of Knight Inlet, the Glendale River estuary and in the Glendale River. On these tours your are at eye level with the bears as they forage on the beach often with first year cubs. These cubs are may be only five months old and are much smaller than those in the previous day’s posting. But even at that age the cubs learn by copying their mother. This is an early season photo as you can see the fur that was rubbed of in the den has not had time to regrow.
Grizzly Bears Cubs wait
About 35 meters (yards) from the viewing platform we use after August 24th a tree has fallen across a small channel in the river. This tree has become a pathway for the grizzly bears that do not want to get their feet wet. That means bear cubs because they tend to avoid the water if they can. They use the log to watch their mother as she fishes in the river below and if she is too slow in catching a salmon it is a good place to rest.
What is in between? 3 of 3
The Coast Mountains in the background make for a memorable flight to the Lodge from Campbell River. For many guests it is their first flight in a small plane. For some it is a “white knuckle” flight while others could do it every day. Keep a camera handy, as you will be flying for about forty-five minutes over nothing but a beautiful landscape that will give you some idea of the vastness of “Beautiful British Columbia”.
At the dock 2 of 3
At the Grizzly Bear Lodge’s dock the boats are double tied to make room for the plane. The departing guests are waiting on the dock as it has been explained that there are not enough beds even if their schedule would allow them stay another night.
Coming to the dock 1 of 3
The flight you catch in Campbell River leaves the harbour about 3:00 and arrives at the lodge about forty-five minutes later. As your luggage is loaded you may have notice that the extra room was filled with the all important groceries to keep the “larder” stocked. The size of the plane will depend on the number of guests and could be a Beaver or a Cessna.
