Thanks to Warren for this picture of a black bear cub standing. Bears are curious animals and rely on their acute sense of smell. Often bears will stand up to get a better look and more importantly a better sniff of what’s around them.
All posts by Angus
Bald Eagle Taking Off
Thanks to Julie for giving us this three part picture of a bald eagle taking flight. They truly are a beautiful bird and we are lucky to have such a healthy population in our area. Guides often joke “we only point out the first twenty”
Glendale River Estuary Grizzly Viewing
In the spring and early summer all of our Grizzly Bear watching is done by boat in Knight Inlet. Most of Knight Inlet is very steep, but where the rivers enter you often have lower sloped, shallow estuaries which are rich in food. These are the areas that the Grizzly Bears tend to congregate in.
Black Bear Feeding
As a guide at Sailcone’s Grizzly Bear Lodge we are always keeping our eyes open for Black Bears feeding along the beach. This is especially common at low tide when the mussel and barnacle covered rocks are exposed. This particular bear has wandered down a log and is feeding on small mussels.
Grizzly Bear from the Dock
This picture was taken from the dock that we park at when conducting grizzly bear tours in Glendale Cove, Knight Inlet. We explore the cove by small boat looking for bears, but sometimes we get lucky and they come to us.
Grizzly Bear “Andy”
This photo was taken from the deck at Rick’s cabin on the river. This is a sub-adult male that Rick has named Andy. He has watched him grow from a cub. It is always nice to see him return to the river to feed year after year.
Bald Eagle with an Unlikely Catch
Bald eagles are opportunistic feeders. This eagle was in the river estuary, likely looking for salmon carcases to feed on. This duck was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Grizzly Mother Sharing her Catch
Guests are often a little confused when they see a mother grizzly catch a salmon and not share with her young cubs. She does this for two reasons. Although the mother is nursing these cubs it is in everyone’s best interest for them to learn to catch their own fish and feed independently. Secondly because the mother is nursing these cubs she needs to consume a lot of calories to maintain this and must be a little selfish at times.
The Struggles of the Pacific Salmon
Salmon are the lifeblood of our coastal ecosystem. Their journey back to their home rivers to spawn is often not an easy one. The salmon return to the same river which they were born years prior. How they know where they are going remains one of life’s great mysteries. The lucky few return, spawn and then all pacific salmon die after spawning, providing nutrients to the river and forest. This is a coho salmon leaping over the falls on the wild river trip.
Grizzly Bear “Disagreements”
Grizzly Bears are a solitary animals. Mothers and cubs are together and sometimes siblings will stay together for a couple of years after they have been kicked out on their own. Other then this they are looking out for themselves. With the abundance of salmon in the rivers in the fall the Grizzlies learn to tolerate each other because they all have to eat. There are, however disputes over the prime fish areas. Generally these aren’t much more then a stare down and some growling, but they do occasionally end up in a bit of a scrap.
