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.
After August 24th we move our grizzly bear viewing to the stands which over look the salmon in the river as they wait to enter the man-made spawning channel. This grizzly is directly below the platform and about to enter the holding pool full of salmon.
It is Knight Inlet’s Glendale Cove and it is early June. All the lodge’s grizzly bear viewing prior to August 25th (when we are permitted to use the viewing stands on the river) occurs along the shore. On this morning the grizzly viewed is at the edge of the water on a very low tide. As the tide rises the bears work their way up the beach to the sedge grass and then berry patches as the beach disappears. This makes for great viewing of the bears in their natural habitat and doing what bears do – forage.
The extra day booked at Grizzly Bear Lodge means a trip to Trapper Rick’s to enjoy the scenery of a unique wild river, some more interaction with bears and Trapper Rick and maybe a little river fishing. On this day we were unable to cross the river to find some bears for about an hour because there was a grizzly bear fishing at the boat landing. As the bear approached Rick he had a one sided conversation with the bear and it crossed the river to fish on the other side before it moved up the river. January 19 to 21 has more photos from this incident – can use the side bar at the left to find these photos. All in all it is worth the time to watch grizzlies while waiting to watch grizzlies.
We have been spotted by the mother grizzly and her cub and in turn they are easier to see on the beach. Heads up and looking in our direction make them much more noticeable than in yesterday’s post.
From a greater distance and if they are not moving grizzly bears tend to blend in with the rocks on the beach. Both bears seem to have found something worthy of their full attention but that is what happens when mother turns over a rock. This inter-tidal zone “food” is high in protein and is made up of crab, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. The “beach food” is important because plant food is relatively scarce during spring and bears will continue to loose weight until well into June.
This first year bald eagle is flying high over the area on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River where we watch grizzly bears from viewing platforms. The eagles are in the area for the same reason that the bears come to the river – salmon. The spawning cycle of the salmon attract grizzly bears, black bears, eagles, seagulls and wolves to the river valleys. Wolves are seldom viewed but the rest are in abundance. In this case the eagle is looking for a salmon carcass to scavenge as this is much easier than catching you own.
.. as large male grizzly comes around the same corner toward the stands. Normally when the large males come to fish the other grizzlies back off the fishing area but on this day they did share even if the mother and cubs did keep a respectful distance.
.. her cubs which eventually come into sight. Once the cubs get closer she appears much more cautious and makes sure the cubs stay close. Her speed picks up as she moves into the area near the stands and starts to fish. Soon the reason for her change of attitude appears….
It is after August 24th and we are in the grizzly bear viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. A grizzly comes slowly around the corner toward the stands. It stops and looks back waiting for…..
Most bears have the equivalent eyesight as humans; however, like humans, there is quite a bit of variation. Some bears have great vision, and some, especially older bears, may have degraded eyesight. But as a general rule, bears see things in better detail than deer, and about the same as humans.
Part of the poor vision myth comes from the fact that because their noses and hearing are so good that they do not rely as much on their vision. If the wind keeps our scent from the bear we are ignored. What about hearing you say? I have noticed that the bars tend to look up the beach to were normal danger might occur and it appears that they also hear the echo of our motors from that direction and do no look toward the boat. Thus good viewing of black bears.
Just like that another season has come to an end. We are grateful for all the wonderful staff and the guests this season. It was an excellent season and we are already looking forward to next May.
One of the highlights of the season was all of the new cubs out. It was awesome to see so many new cubs of the year and that is great news for our bear populations moving forward. We had great spring viewing and this continued through summer. On our river trips we started to see salmon arriving in August and enjoyed some great shoulder season viewing. The fish at the viewing platforms were a little late showing up this year, but viewing during late September at the platforms was great and the estuary viewing remained strong throughout the season.
Out in the whale watching world it was another year that saw large numbers of resident Orca who remained in the area right into October. The Humpback viewing was also great with large numbers feeding in Blackfish Sound. It is so amazing to have these magnificent animals back in our waters in such numbers.
Over the winter and spring we will be doing some repairs and maintenance. We rebuilt the front deck last spring, utilising cedar cut on site. We will continue with some siding, rooms improvements and hopefully a floating sauna ready for the start of our season.
2026 is already looking like a very busy season for us. We only have limited high season availability so please book early to ensure we have space for your group.
Looking forward to seeing you next year
Angus Reid
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