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.

Lunch on the float

dock lunch

As mentioned in yesterday’s post it is lunchtime. Madeline (our cook) prepares a wicked picnic lunch that guests enjoy and never able to finish.  The other boats at the dock belong to Tiderip Tours who are doing an estuary tour. After lunch if time permits we may take a tour up the river or return down the inlet looking for more bears and other marine life. See the next four posts…

 

 

 

Returning from the grizzly viewing stands

loading for lunch

We use the viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River after August 24th. After an hour and twenty minute ride up the inlet we tie to a float, take a skiff to shore, ride in a van, climb into the viewing stands and watch grizzly bears for two hours. The above photo is part of the return process of getting back into the skiff to return to the float for lunch. The skiff comfortably holds five or six people and even has a ramp to keep your feet dry.

 

 

 

Dall’s Porpoise

Dall's PorpoiseDall's Porpoise

Dall’s porpoise are the fastest cetacean in BC, at speeds up to 55 km/hr and like dolphins they will often play around the boat. The white in the corner of the photo is the edge of our boat. Dall’s are found only in the North Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas (Bering Sea, Okhotsk Sea and Sea of Japan). They range from coastal waters to deep offshore waters.  Details of migrations are poorly known, however, Dall’s porpoise are year-round resident though-out much of their range, generally moving north for the summer and south for the winter. Dall’s porpoise feed mainly on small schooling fishes (herring, anchovies, mackerels and sauries) and cephalopods (octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish).

 

 

 

 

What is the Grizzly looking at? 2 of 2

River Grizzly Bear

This picture puts it all in prospective. The guest’s head in the corner of the photo puts us across the river that is fifteen meters (yards) from the bear. Is the bear aware of our presence? Yes. Does it care? No. We have become part of the background for the grizzlies and as long as we respect their “comfort zone” there is not a problem and all the guides from the lodge have been doing this for more than ten years so we know which bears are approachable. The only “comfort zone” we sometimes cross is that of our guests.

 

 

 

Grizzly Bear Estuary Tour

guide towing boat

You may wonder how you are able to get the close-up photos in the estuary tours on the Glendale River. You are in a 5.5 meter (yard) flat bottom boat that allows us to move up the river as the water rises. The quite aspect of the tour is because your guide is pulling you as we work our way up the river. This silent approach does not scare the grizzlies especially those with first year cubs.

 

 

 

Grizzly Encounter 4 of 4

Grizzly mother

At this point the mother and cub are not more than fifteen to twenty meters (fifty to sixty feet) from the bow of our viewing boat. One does not need a high power lens for a good picture. Back at the lodge in the evening guests share their photos from the days activities and the guest that were in my boat had great photos and memories.

 

 

Grizzly Encounter 3 of 4

Grizzly bear leavingGrizzly encounter

Once the subadult was aware of the mother and cub she became much less interested in food and more concerned about her safety. The mother and cub continued to walk along the beach as it there was not a problem and for her it was not a problem.  Very few grizzlies except for a large dominated male bear will challenge a mother grizzly…

 

 

Grizzly Encounter 2 of 4

Grizzly BearGrizzly bear

On the left the grizzly is a subadult four-year-old female working along the beach rolling rocks and looking for food. On the right a mother and cub that was grazing on the sedge grass until she became aware of the other bear…

 

 

 

Grizzly Encounter 1 of 4

Grizzly Bears

 

The first thing to note in this series of posted photos is that the camera used is a Pentax Optio Wpi 6MP and 3X Optical Zoom. It does not have a lens that makes the grizzlies appear to be sitting on the bow of the boat we are using. We are just off the beach and grizzlies have appeared on the left and right of our location and the hope is that they will meet in the middle…

Bald Eagle Soaring

Bald Eagle

Depending on the time of the season bald eagle may or not be abundant. By late August through October the most of the eagles have moved away from their ocean feeding grounds to the rivers that are full of spawning salmon. Birds of prey find it much easier to feed on dying or dead salmon than to catch live food (herring or small salmon) and they use fewer calories. Fortunately our grizzly bear viewing tours are on such a river so eagles are available for good photos all season.