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.

Four Grizzly Bears?

How many grizzlies

If my memory serves me there are four grizzlies in this photo.  They are Bella and her two cubs plus another sub-adult. Actually there were two sub-adult siblings that came to the Glendale River estuary and they played with Bella’s cubs. We (the guides) were not able to identify the siblings but thought they must be related to Bella or she would not have been so friendly or allowed them to play. In the spring (June and July) there are a number of bears that make the river estuary their home plus bears that are travelling through and may stay for a few days or weeks.

 

 

Who Eats This Salmon

Grizzly cubs salmon over fight

The mother caught the salmon now the fight is to determine the eater. This family was just below the viewing platform we use after August 24th. The water is about one meter (three ft.) deep which is ok for the mother but once the cub has the salmon it is necessary to get to shore to eat. So the family fight is to retain the salmon and to make it to the nearest shore about five meters (yards) away. The good news is that there is an abundance of salmon so everyone will get their fill.

 

 

Estuary Grizzly Bears

River Grizzly Bears

Prior to August 25th grizzly bear watching from our lodge occurs in the Glendale River bay and estuary. We travel one hour and fifteen minutes by boat up Knight Inlet to the river. At the river we transfer to a 5.5 meter (yard) flat bottom skiff. The shallow draft of the skiff allows us the move closely along the shore and to go up the river as the tide rises. The grizzlies have accepted our presence allowing us to get close enough for good photos. No this photo was not taken with a “large” zoom lens rather my small Pentax Optio 6 mp 3X Optical Zoom point-and-shoot camera which is waterproof. The waterproof is important because I am in the water pulling the boat up the river. The conclusion to make is that we were close to these grizzly bears.

 

 

Just One More

one more salmon

This past summer there was an abundance of salmon and as the previous post suggests many were allowed to drift down stream to the less fortunate. The other factor in salmon selection by the grizzlies is that they will often discard the male salmon (no eggs) but they still have other fatty parts. Several of the bears around the viewing stands did not waste energy chasing salmon rather they sat on the shore and eat those drifting by or in this case piling up on the bank. In this photo the mother had eaten her full and was heading for a rest while her two-year-old want another.

 

 

Grizzly Bear Eating Style

Grizzly eating salmon

The view from our platform on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River overlooks the entrance to the man made spawning channel.  After August 24th this is the centre for the grizzly bear watching tours. This grizzly eating the salmon headfirst may seem strange. But when salmon is very abundant the skilled grizzly bears that catch lots of salmon will start only eating the fattiest parts of the fish – the brains, eyes, skin and eggs. They then drop the discarded salmon into the water where it is swept downstream to be eaten by smaller or less experienced bears, gulls, ravens, crows, eagles and other scavenging animals. See tomorrow’s post.

 

 

Well fed Grizzly Bear

Large grizzly bear

Unlike the black bear in the May 8th posting this grizzly bear has access to the rivers that contain spawning salmon and flow into Knight Inlet. The overhead view means this bear was near the viewing platform on the Glendale River, which has a man-made spawning channel. This platform is used by Grizzly Bear Lodge after August 24th for its grizzly bear watching trips. This is a large well-feed male grizzly that definitely getting close to it’s hibernation weight.

 

People Watching Tour

Black Bear

This past summer black bears were hard to find along the shore as the berries seemed to last longer than normal so the bears stayed in the bushes. However we still managed some good photos and in this case I am not sure who was more interested the guests or the bear. The first evening in the lodge we do a black bear tour so you get to know your guide, the operation of the boat and work up an appetite for diner. See tomorrow’s post.

 

 

Grizzly Bear Posing

Grizzly Bear beach

This photo presents what seems to be a common pose for grizzly bears on a wildlife tour from our lodge. Fortunately the pose only lasts while the bear is turning over rocks and they do move from rock to rock and the trip allows hours of observing bears so there is ample time for good photos. The reason for this pose is the beaches slope to the water and it is easier to roll rocks downhill than uphill.

 

 

Bald Eagle Watching Us

Bald eagle

One of the hardest parts of a good photo of a bald eagle is not finding the eagle but getting a clear photo. Although this photo is interesting it would be better without the branch in the way. This required that I back the boat away from the eagle in hopes that it would not move than travel along the shore and drift back so the branch is behind the eagle. There are enough eagles in the area that if guests want a good picture they will get one.

 

 

Healthy Grizzly Bear Population

Grizzly Family

The grizzly bear population in the Knight Inlet area is healthy and growing. Grizzlies are frequently having triplets and this year there was a mother with four cubs. It is not unusually for one of the three cubs not to survive into its second year but for the past several years that has not been the norm. The number of grizzly bears in the area has increased so that the juvenile bears are moving down Knight Inlet and are becoming more common close to the Lodge. In the spring mothers with cubs are starting to appear in areas adjacent (ten minute boat ride) to Minstrel Island the location of the Grizzly Bear Lodge. This summer (2014) we had a large sub-adult grizzly on the island that took a week to scare off the island. Grizzlies are nice to visit on a tour but when the bear is in the front or back yard and guests are watching bears from the lodge deck that is taking grizzly watching to a new level. This mother and triplets are in the best location and are being viewed from the platform on the Glendale River, which flows into Knight Inlet.