Guest Photos

A wildlife photographer’s dream!

We offer fantastic bear and whale watching opportunities at Sailcone’s Grizzly Bear Lodge, your guests’ photos prove it!

Do you have your own photos to add from your stay with us? Please click here to email us!

Grizzly Bears??

Black175Black179

Again photos from Grant and Judith Fuller of Bangor NSW Australia.  No these are not grizzly bears even if one appears to have a brown tinge to its fur, just two good-sized black bears.  Whether on a whale safari or a grizzly bear tour we are constantly looking for black bears and other wildlife while we scan the shore from the boat.  On your first evening in the lodge we do a black bear tour for about and hour and a half if the tide is low enough.  Low tide is required, as it is hard to find bears on the beach if there is no beach.

 

Wildlife Viewing on Knight Inlet

P7170153

The morning run up Knight Inlet on the grizzly bear tour is always interesting.  It is a spectacular view, the lodge is located approximately 20 miles from the mouth, and the grizzly viewing area starts another 25 miles up the inlet, which is about 90 miles long. Eagles are abundant on the morning run this one being in the Glendale estuary the primary grizzly bear viewing area.  Eagles are not always in trees it is not uncommon to watch them pick up a fish from the water and then land on shore to eat the “catch of the day”. Grant and Judith Fuller of Bangor NSW Australia provided the photos of the inlet and bald eagle.

Wilderness Tour – Classy Lunch

Dolphinslunch4used

On our whale watching safari we try to eat lunch at an interesting location normally in the area of the sea lions or humpback whales in the waters off Telegrahp Cove on Vancouver Island. “There is nothing like French champagne to celebrate these three marvelous days in August, plenty of dolphins, orcas, grizzly, salmons, black bears, seals, great friendship and with particular thanks to our two outstanding guides.” (Note the champagne was brought from France for your picnic lunch in the boat.) Nicole et Jean Martin-Dondoz of Marseille France provide pictures and comments.

Whale Watching Safari

Lucky1

Harold Bailey from the UK who was with us the first week of September, provided the comment and picture “I feel lucky tonight”.  Whale watching safari trips from the lodge include more than humpback whales and orca.  The water-ways between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland abound in marine based wildlife: eagles, large variety of ducks and water fowl, white-sided dolphins, dall’s porpoise, harbour porpoise, harbour seals and of course stellar sea lions. A safari trip without viewing a majority of these is not considered a good day. 

Grizzly bear fishing

So Many Fish So Little Time
So Many Fish So Little Time

This could be a two for one photo provided by Janis (from UK). A great shot of a grizzly bear with a salmon and also in the background, if you look closely a salmon coming over the small falls. If you click on the picture it will enlarge to give you a better view. On the wildlife safari trips it is easier to get a picture of a grizzly bear feeding than a salmon over the falls.

 

Grizzly Bear in deep water

Adult Grizzly Bear

Fall grizzly bear viewing from our lodge on Knight Inlet takes place on the Glendale River and a man made salmon spawning channel.  There are two viewing platforms next to the part of the river the salmon use to pass over a weir into the spawning channel.  The second stand we normally use has a deep pool on one side, the natural river on the other two sides leaving the forth for a narrow road.  This grizzly, in the deep pool, has it’s eye on us in the stand maybe because we made to much noise or just out of curiosity. At this time of the year a grizzly bears prime concern is food namely pink salmon.  Hibernation maybe a little more than two months away and this is the time to “bulk up” for the long winter.  A bear without sufficient fat may not survive the winter and in the case of a female it may mean that she will absorb her “eggs” and not proceed with a pregnancy.

Grizzly Bear Eating Pink Salmon

Grizzly eating salmon

Luwen & Liwen from Singapore got a great picture of a grizzly bear on the Glendale River in Knight Inlet eating one of the favourite parts of a salmon it just caught: the eggs or roe. During the peak of the salmon run the bears have access to an abundance of salmon at that time they will eat only the parts highest in calories – the eggs, skin and brains.  Salmon roe and skin are also high in fat; grizzlies will often discard the body of the fish, which is left for the eagles.  Early is the salmon run the grizzly devour the whole fish to “bulk up” for the coming winter this is also true later in the season for those bears that have not achieved sufficient weight or fat to survive the winter.

Pictures that interest Grizzly Bear Lodge’s guests

Floatplane over Vancouver Island

Banana slugGrizzly Bear Lodge is a remote lodge meaning arrival is by floatplane from Campbell River on Vancouver Island.  This is another great photo opportunity as shown by this picture from guest James O’Donoghue. The forty-five minute flight passes over the mostly uninhabited coast except for the fish farm and logging camps. According to the website “Creation Wiki”: “The Banana slug is the 2nd largest slug in the world – the largest in North America. Banana slugs can grow all the way up to 25cm (10inches) in length.” The lodge is located in the southern portion of BC’s the Great Bear Rainforest and a rainforest does encourage everything to grow “big”.

 

Whale Watching while seagulls feed

Seagulls feeding

A herring “ball” results when a school of herring is chased to the surface by a predatory fish, ducks or other diving birds. Often the herring balls can be spotted by a large flock of seagulls noisily feeding on the surface. Spotting the gulls feeding is a joy for your guide as the unenviable fate of the herring is to be dinner for a larger mammal meaning humpback whales.  As a guide once the herring ball is located the intent is to stop the boat in proximity of the gulls and wait.  “Keep your eye on the gulls and as they lift into the air get ready for a picture of a whale lunge feeding”(see tomorrow’s blog) is the directions given to the guests while we wait.  James O’Donoghue’s photo captured the mass of the gulls but not the noise they produce.  The area for the lodge’s whale watching safari day is Blackfish Sound not far from Vancouver Island’s Telegraph Cove.  It is an area known for the abundance of herring and thus popular for salmon fishing which also means orca that feed on the salmon. 

“Caught in the act” by a Grizzly Bear

Grizzly swimming

Just when you think the grizzly bears you are viewing do not really know that you are there you get one that looks you right in the eye when caught taking a photo.  To put a human touch it would be “A little privacy if you don’t mind.”  The bears on the lodge’s tour up Knight Inlet tend to ignore our intrusion into their life.  In the spring and summer, while they are feeding on the beach they only acknowledge our presence if we get to close.  In the fall in the viewing stands on the Glendale River sudden movement, load noises or a cameras flash left on will get their attention. For the most part the grizzly is aware but chooses to ignore. Guest James O’Donoghue from the UK provided this photo.