…they suddenly turned and ran directly toward us. As the picture shows they did manage to flick a salmon on to the bar and proceeded to fight over it’s possession. One of the two year old cubs came up winner so mother continues to fish…
Grizzly Watching
Grizzly Bears are magnificent and the biggest reason visitors choose our lodge!
Grizzly bears thrive here and the viewing opportunities are spectacular. We have operated our Grizzly Bear Lodge for decades and know the prime spots for bear watching. The ultimate grizzly bear photo opportunities.
Grizzly Bears on the River 1 of 4
I remember this day well. Prior to August 25 all grizzly bear watching is in the Glendale River estuary. It was a slow day with no bears and I was pulling the skiff up river in low water. If one waits for the water to rise with the tide it is much easier but then the water is too deep for the grizzlies to trying and catch the salmon as they try to move up over the shallow gravel bars. We had just reached an area below a gravel bar when these grizzlies appeared….
Grizzly Bear Lecture
July and a mother grizzly bear and her cub of the year are on the beach working on a meal of mussels. The mother on scrapping them off a log while the cub was more into turning over rocks. The mother persisted on the log and was eventually join by her cub. Note: the mothers back upper leg has not regrown the fur that was rubbed off during hibernation.
Merry Christmas From Sailcone
Merry Christmas from the lodge. Hope everyone has a great day and that the bears are enjoying their winters nap.
Who is Watching Who
One of the nice things about viewing the grizzly bears from the viewing platform is that they tend to ignore you entirely. This is great as it is low impact viewing, allowing the bears to go about their business. Once and a while a bear will glance up and check out the people. Cubs are often especially curious and will give a stare to the lucky guests.
Grizzly Cub Peek-a-Boo
This photo was taken on our river trip. We were lucky to have a mother bring her cub through the yard while we sat quietly and watched. The mother was very relaxed as she stopped to forage on some grass. They cub took a moment to do a bit of “people watching” before continuing to feed with her mother.
Bald eagle swimming with a salmon
Seeing a bald eagle swim is not a common sight on our wildlife tours maybe once or twice a summer. But this morning we saw three take a salmon to shore. An eagle will catch a fish in their talon that is too heavy for them to carry and they will swim to shore with it so they can eat it. They use a butterfly like swim stroke. In the first photo it is almost to the shore and the second show the eagle lifting the fish further up the shore. In this case its mate came down and took the salmon, as it was to exhausted to fight. The happy ending was that it did get to share the fish once it recovered.
Spring dining for a grizzly bear
Until the salmon arrive in the river in late August the grizzly bears of Knight Inlet find their food on the beach. This bear was scrapping mussels and barnacles from the rocks to obtain the protein necessary to keep it alive. These are eaten “in the shell” and with our motor turned off we can hear the crunching as well as the scrapping of claws. This look was “you are in my comfort zone” so we slowly backed off a few meters.
Waiting for dinner to be served
Once the salmon have arrived and after August 24th (per Government Regulations) we move up the Glendale River to the viewing platform to view grizzlies waiting for salmon. These two grizzlies (look carefully) were very good at catching salmon as one caught and moved off it eat its fish the other waited for a salmon to come within reach.
Black Bear On the Bluff
We always keep our eyes open for Black Bears cruising the beaches at low tide. Sometimes it also pays to look up. Black Bears are much sleeker then Grizzlies and have short claws, which makes them excellent climbers. In the late summer there are often salal berries growing on the rocky outcroppings, which the bears enjoy.
