It is always rewarding to watch bear cubs with their mothers feeding on salmon in the fall.
“Amalie’s pups playing in the river, fascinating”
All photos: Rainer Beck, Bornheim, Germany
Our crew has been with us for an average of over 10 years. We have witnessed a huge increase in interest in wildlife viewing over the past years and have been fortunate to see some amazing success stories, with increased numbers of Grizzly Bears and Humpback Whales in our area. I’m on the left pulling the boat in at the lodge, and my brother cam is on the right at telegraph cove, stretching the legs after a morning of whale watching.
All photos: Rainer Beck, Bornheim, Germany
This is the second photo that Rainer was kind enough to send to us
“VERY close approach, raising our pulse rates”
Seeing a Grizzly Bear on land is an experience that few people ever forget. There is something special about being on the same level as these amazing animals in a safe, yet very much wild situation.
Rainer Beck, Bornheim, Germany
Thanks to Rainer and his wife Gabi who sent us a number of wonderful photos from their trip this year. This one is taken at our river trip, where we were lucky to have some excellent bear sightings this year with lots of Coho salmon making their way upstream over the falls
“Amalie.1
Amalie in the River, waiting for salmon”
Rainer Beck, Bornheim, Germany
Another season has passed and it is time to start putting things away for the winter months. The grizzly and black bears are putting on last minute calories in preparation for their hibernation and the humpback whales are starting to head for their breeding grounds. Joe and I towed the dock out of Glendale Cove the other day and were blessed with an absolutely beautiful October day in Knight Inlet.
Grizzly Bears all seem to have their own fishing style. Often the larger, more mature bears are far more patient opting to let the calories come to them rather then run around burning calories in hopes of maybe catching a salmon. This bear sat for two hours picking off the occasional pink salmon as it swam by. Initially just due to the bears size we assumed it was a male. After a “better look”, however we discovered that this is in fact a very healthy female Grizzly.
This is the Grizzly Bear viewing platform that we use from August 25 until the end of the season. The maximum number of guests we are allowed to have in the platform is 5 and during our time it will only be guests from our lodge. People have plenty of space to get some great views and photos of the bears as they look for salmon. The viewing in this area is well managed, limiting the number of people and the times that we can view. This allows guests to have great experiences viewing the bears, but also creates low stress levels for the bears as they go about their business.
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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