All posts by Lodge Guide

Departure from Grizzly Bear Lodge

Guests good morning

It must be close to 7:30 am as the guests are on the dock and ready to leave for a day of wildlife viewing. In the morning guests are called for breakfast at 6:30 for the 7:30 departure. The red / orange float suits are your government approved life jackets and as one of my guest said like wearing a duvet, in this case a warm waterproof duvet. On the dock is the picnic lunch for the boat. These lunches are always popular with the guests and our cooks philosophy is “that if the basket comes back almost empty she did not pack enough” it does not matter if the guest ate twice their body weight in food. Note that it is a maxim of four guests per boat and often less.

 

Unhappy Grizzly Bear Cub

Grizzly cub waiting

This photo was taken on August 25th the first day that we are permitted to use the viewing platform on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. The river is an hour and fifteen-minute boat ride from Grizzly Bear Lodge located on Minstrel Island. This cub did not appear to like the water and kept returning to this rock and watching us in the viewing platform that overlooks the pool adjacent to the spawning channel. This cub was one of three siblings, which spent time with their mother fishing in the river, which is part of the viewing area. After our first week on the stands these cubs paid little attention to the “watchers” and more time eating.

 

Pre-Salmon Grizzly Bear

Grizzlies on the beach

This is a healthy spring / early summer grizzly. Grizzly bear viewing from Grizzly Bear Lodge is divided into two seasons, which are marked by the date August 25th. On the 25th we are permitted to use the viewing stands located on a man-made salmon spawning on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. Prior to this date our viewing is along the shore of the river’s estuary and in the river. This photo is from the shore in August prior to the arrival of the salmon. Once the salmon arrive we spend more time in the river and the bears start to show sign of the feeding on the salmon. The most obvious sign is much shorter legs. That is another way of saying that the grizzlies are starting to fatten and the size of their belly makes the legs appear shorter.

 

My Camera vs guest camera 2 of 2

Humpback lunge

Comparing yesterday’s post and today’s there is not much room for a comment. The only comment is that we often view a dozen of more different humpback whales each day and frequently they are lunge feeding close to our boat, which provides opportunities for “bucket list” photographs.

 

My Camera vs guest camera 1 of 2

Humpback Whales lunging

My camera is a smaller Pentax Optio waterproof camera that is great for getting the perspective and a close up if the object is close. Also good or grandkids and general scenery. Tomorrow’s post the guest’s photo.

 

Visiting stellar sea lions

Stellar Sea Lion

There are stellar sea lion in the lodge’s whale watching viewing area all year but they are more abundant in the spring and fall as they pass through on their migration between Alaska and California. We make a point of stopping to watch the sea lions on their “haul out rocks” and at times they make a point of coming to visit our boat. Sea lions like many marine mammals are curious and will approach your boat if you are sitting quietly. However this is a little closer than normal but then it was a calm day on the water and we were near a school of herring.

 

Grizzly flaying a salmon

Skinning a salmon

From Wikipedia: “Flaying, also known colloquially as skinning, is the removal of skin from the body. Generally, an attempt is made to keep the removed portion of skin intact.” This grizzly is doing an excellent job of flaying the salmon but I do not think that keeping the skin intact is important. The skin is often the first part of the salmon eaten not because it needs to be removed to get to the flesh but because of the layer of fat located directly beneath the skin. If the bears are selective in their eating because of the abundance of salmon or they are becoming full they will eat the skin, the brain and the roe (eggs) and leave the remainder of the salmon for the seagulls, bald eagles or other scavengers.

 

Grizzly mother sharing with triplets

Grizzly bears sharing salmon

The first year grizzly cubs we encounter in the viewing area of
Knight’s Inlet British Columbia are not normally able to catch their own salmon. Especially when the fishing requires them to be in the deeper water adjacent to the viewing platform, deep for them but not their mother. The adult grizzlies are able to pick salmon off the bottom that died because of the low water this summer that permitted the water temperature to rise and reduced the oxygen level to drop. Our viewing platform is located on the Glendale River, which is located, and hour and fifteen minute boat ride up Knight Inlet from the lodge.

 

Killer Whales – Blackfish – Orca

Killer whales

Killer whale is the tourist / media name, Orcinus orca is the scientific name, and Blackfish is the name I grew up knowing. Growing up and fishing in Campbell River on BC’s Vancouver Island orca were frequently in the area. At that time in the 1950’s and for years to come the name used by local was Blackfish. It was not until the mid 1960’s and on the name killer whale came into common use.  After the first orca was captured in 1964 and for the first time, newspapers and magazines including Reader’s Digest, Life, The Times of London, and the Victoria Times gave some positive press about killer whales the name started to become popular. It is not hard to see that a tour or a visit to see a Blackfish did not seem to attract much interest whereas killer whale was media gold.

 

A view form the platform

Grizzly bears fighting

The viewing platform use by Grizzly Bear Lodge is located overlooking the salmon holding area which is the entrance to a man-made spawning channel. The February 21st posting shows the abundance of salmon in this area and it is quite common that after the grizzlies (especially the sub-adult bears) have had their fill of salmon they start to play fight. This fighting is a family “thing” the bears do not normally interact with bears outside the family unit. On this day the fighting lasted about fifteen minutes before they moved the river likely to have a mid-morning rest (nap).