It must be another misty August morning in Johnstone Strait with a pod of killer whales on their rounds. The metal bar in the corner to the picture is the mount that holds the radar on my boat and gives an indication of the nearness of the orca. By noon the mist will have “burned off” to gives us another nice after noon to locate humpback whales, Steller seal ions, bald eagles etc. …
All posts by Lodge Guide
Grizzly Family
This is to be a grizzly bear family that is together for it’s third summer. It is one of the cubs that caught the salmon the mother is on the right. Not sure what has her interest as we were sitting in our skiff about forty meters in front of the cub with the salmon. Actually the guests were in the skiff I was sitting on the bow of the boat holding it in place on the river. The grizzlies did turn and cross the river to eat the salmon but also came back to catch several more while we watched from front row seats. The only time we got their attention was when I stood up to move the skiff away from their fishing area and the mother stopped and looked our way. I sat down and she went back to fishing. We are part of the background as long as we play by the rule – Do not move.
Best Guest Blog
This is a great site to visit to get a “guest eye view” of a trip to our lodge.
Click on this link
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.
Bald Eagles Scavenging
In late August Grizzly Bear Lodge uses viewing platforms on the Glendale River for our grizzly bear watching trips. At this time the salmon are in the rivers and many of the eagles have left the open ocean and feeding on herring to the easier scavenging on salmon remains from a grizzly bear kill. Scavenging is the most energy efficient way for getting meal. It is a matter of sitting in a tree until one is hungry and then moving to the river bank to eat.
Humpback Whale Playing 2 of 2
I counted nine breaches during that half hour. Some of the photos were only splashes but some were excellent breaches. As a guide I say “Luck is better than skill” and this was one of those lucky days. But I had a guest say: “The skill puts you in the right place so the luck can happen.”
Humpback Whale Playing 1 of 2
I remember this whale watching tour in August of this year because we followed this humpback whale for at least half an hour as it traveled down Blackfish Sound. It would spend time on the surface slapping its pectoral fin, rolling on its back and then lobtailing as shown in the above photo. After all that it would take a deep dive and we would be treated with tomorrow’s post photo….
Lunch Time Visitation 3 of 3
On days when there is not much tide running (this means we will more or less stay in one place) we do not tie to a kelp bed rather we have a drifting picnic lunch. This was a visitation from a baby harbour seal. It remained close to the boat for most of our picnic popping up around the boat either for protection or out of curiosity.
Lunch Time Visitation 2 of 3
On another day in August we had just spent about twenty minutes photographing about seventy-five Steller sea lions at one of their haulouts. We had move along the shore to a kelp bed so we would be up-wind of the noise and more importantly the smell when we had a visit. Again sitting quietly these sea lions were less than three meters (yards) from the boat and were more curious than frightened.
Lunch Time Visitation 1 of 3
Picnic lunches while whale watching normally are in the boat. The location of the lunches vary from day to day but often involve being tied to a kelp bed. The first photo provides some perspective as to the closeness of the humpback whale while the second shows that the whale was just enjoying a roll in the kelp bed. On this day we were about half way through our lunch as as you can see there not much boat traffic. With our engine turned off it was a very peaceful area and the whale was just doing what whales do when there is no one to disturb it’s natural behaviour.
Interesting and Tempting?
The sedge grass is about a meter (yard) tall and with the rising water the grizzly bear is likely standing in water up to its belly. Footing along a river bank is quite slippery and more so in water while the deer is one leap from solid footing. But even on dry ground we frequently see grizzlies and black tailed deer feeding side by side. The chance of a grizzly bear catching deer is so low it is not worth wasting the energy trying.
