All posts by Lodge Guide

Dolphin Taking a Dive

whitside dolphin tail

Pacific white sided dolphins, as mentioned in the positing of April 17th, are frequently seen in our viewing area. They are observed as often on the grizzly bear tour and the day with Trapper Rick as they are while whale watching. This is an unusual photo as it is the after the leap and was kept to compare it to tomorrow’s post.

 

 

Grizzly Bears on a Log

triplets on log

This photo for some reason made me think of “Ants on a log” (a snack made by spreading peanut butter on celery and placing raisins on top). Must be thinking of my grandkids. This is the same bear from the April 19th but she has her cubs close. On this day we were on the river and moving up with the tide and mother and cubs were curious as we sat and watched. She eventually moved into the water and spent time fishing for salmon, which she shared with the cubs. This lasted for thirty plus minutes until the tide rose and the water became too deep for successful catching (fishing was ok just the catching deteriorated).      The bears moved off the river and we proceeded up river in search of more grizzlies.

 

 

Herring balls and humpback whales

Humpback Lunge

The seagulls in this photo are the key to good whale watching. Humpback whales in our area feed on herring. Diving ducks attack the herring from below and their defence is to form a tight mass of revolving herring (a herring ball) which moves to the surface. When the herring near the surface the gulls attack from above and that is what your guide wants to see. Once the gulls are spotted it is necessary to move toward the herring ball without making the ball disperse and then wait for a humpback whale to lunge up and eat the herring. On this attempt the humpback was faster than the guide to reach the herring so our view was from the distance but if you check the post’s from April 6th and 7th you can see that is not the norm.

 

 

Grizzly Bears Pause

Grizzly Pause

A grizzly pauses while fishing just below the viewing platform. It could be for a number of reasons but in the case of this grizzly it was likely to check on the location of her cubs.  She in the mother of triplets and has spent most of the summer in our viewing area which is the Glendale River basin of Knights Inlet. The triplets stay pretty close to each other and are always within mother’s call range. This call is a grunt or growl that is used as a means of communicating with her young and they are quick to respond.

 

 

From Grizzly Bear Lodge’s front deck

Grizzly Bear Lodge sunrise

When we get a sunrise it is beautiful. This is the start of one such sunrise. The problem the lodge is located in the microclimate of Knight Inlet that frequently brings an overcast sky at night. This overcast is gone by 11:00 but that is too late for a sunrise. If you go to “Categories” at the left and click on “The Lodge” you will see two or three pictures of sunrises  (if you scroll far enough down the page there is an excellent sunrise near the end).

 

 

Pacific White Sided Dolphins

Whitsides - Dolphins

Pacific white sided dolphins have the Latin name of “Lagenorhynchus obliquidens”, which is shortened to “Lags” because the Latin is too much of a mouthful to use over a VHF radio. These dolphins may travel in-groups that reach numbers of up to 2,000 or 3,000 but most often in-groups between 20 to 100. If you only see a couple keep a look out as there are usually more not too far off. These dolphins are playful and will often follow in the propwash of the boat or ride the bow wave. The best approach for a photo is to point and click as much as possible and upon returning to the Lodge delete all the pictures of the sky and water and maybe have some of the dolphins.

 

 

Grizzlies Walking Causeway

Triplets

This photo shows a mother grizzly and her cubs. She has three just not all in this photo, like kids some are a little wayward. The family is walking the causeway between the two viewing stands we use on the Glendale River after August 24th. To get a sense of the stand’s location if you go to “Pages” on the lower left side of this page and click on “Google Map of Itinerary” you will view a map showing Vancouver Island and four blue “Icons”.  If you zoom in on the icon to the right until the written name of Tom Brown Lake is large and easy to read. Click on the green square in the lower left corner and this becomes a Google Earth Map. Continue to zoom in slowly keeping the focus on the end of Tom Brown Lake closest to the blue icon. The zigzag of greenery is the trees surrounding the man made spawning channel. The “dirt coloured” area at the left corner of the spawning channel is the causeway between the two viewing platforms. Grizzly Bear Lodge tends to use the stand at the end of the causeway as it has water on three sides and more opportunity for bear viewing.

 

 

Trapper Rick’s Trap Demonstration

Trapper Rick's Trap

If you choose to spend the extra day at Grizzly Bear Lodge it is spent with Trapper Rick. We cross Knight Inlet and pass through Thompson Sound to the Kakweikan River which is located on the BC mainland. We travel by road to Rick’s cabin that is located overlooking a feeding area used by the grizzly bears after the salmon arrive.  The day includes short hikes, spin fishing for salmon for those who are interested, great photos of the incredible scenery and a picnic lunch. Rick is very passionate about the grizzlies and other wildlife in his river valley and this passion is evident in his willingness to share with his guests. On this day he was demonstrating the humane traps he used in his years of trapping.

 

 

Watching a Killer Whale Family

Pod of orca

“Pods are actually their own matriarchal family groups. Animals born into a pod, stay in the pod their entire lives. This is like living with your mother, aunts, uncles, cousins and brothers and sisters all descendant from your mother’s side of the family for your whole life. It is extremely rare for an Orca from one pod to be accepted or join with another pod of whales. The gene pool gets mixed up by not having any father within the same pod. Each pod has their own ‘dialect’ of communication through various squeaks, burbles, and whistles.
The term “Whale” is a misnomer since the Orca is actually from the dolphin family. We associate “whale” with something very large and they are much larger than the majority of dolphins. They are a whale of a dolphin.”

This quote was taken from the website Whales and Dolphins BC which is a great site to visit if you are interested in more information.

 

 

“Boss” Grizzly Bear

Large grizzly bear

For some grizzly bears in our viewing area the term “boss” is appropriate and this is one of those bears. The photo was taken from the viewing platform on the Glendale River that we use after August 24th. Although it is great to see one of the large grizzlies it is better if they appear at the end of the two-hour viewing time. If they are present when we arrive no other bears will come to fish until they leave. The larger older males are a little shy and are more commonly seen on the road while driving to the platform or in the portion of the spawning we pass on the last half mile of the drive.