We offer fantastic bear and whale watching opportunities at Sailcone’s Grizzly Bear Lodge, your guests’ photos prove it!
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This has been my computer’s “Desktop” background for years. Its is complements of an English guest who was fortunate to be “ready” when we were in the right place at the right time. Humpback whales breaching are much more frequent than a picture of a humpback breach.
I have always thought that this photo from Gary Wilson from Australia is a bit of a classic. It shows the amount of activity we have in a days whale watching. In this case a humpback whale coming up for a breath in front of the Steller sea lion haul-out. Most whale watching trips include black bears, seals, sea lions, harbour porpoise, dall’s porpoise, pacific white-sided dolphins, killer whales, humpback whales, bald eagles and a variety of sea birds / ducks.
This is another photo provided by our guests from a posting in December 19 to 21 of 2015 (can check the sidebar and go to Dec. 2015). An eagle had been reported in the water, far from shore, swimming toward the beach. By the time we got close enough to get it out of the water it was in rough shape. We managed to get the eagle quite dry and to a safe place on the beach. When we checked later it was gone so we assumed it made a recovery.
Our visit to Grizzly Bear Lodge
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Peder and Ann again capture the activity on one of their days from their visit in July, 2015. For me as a guide and I know from the guest comments this is one of the highlights of a day on the water – a group of Pacific White-sided Dolphins. Such a clear and sharp photo emphasizes the speed of these dolphins as they keep pace with our boat. The Marine Mammal Watching Guidelines say we are to stay one hundred meters from the dolphins but unfortunately or fortunately depending on your point of view the dolphins cannot read.
Peder and Ann, just so you know, Angus has informed me that the humpback that is tail slapping is called “Lucky”. If it was my photo with my point and shoot Pentax I would say that it was a lucky photo but from the number of great photos that you have sent us I know that there was a lot of skill involved. This type of behaviour from the humpback whales while we are on a whale watching tour has become much more common over the past few years but capturing such a good photo is still rare. Thank you.
Even if I did not have the date on the photos to check by the size of these grizzly bear cubs one can tell it is mid July in Knight Inlet. Peder and Ann have captures the activity that we find on the beach at this time of year. The salmon have not arrived in the rivers so the grizzlies obtain much of their protein rolling rocks on the beach for the crabs, clams, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. The cubs may roll a few of the smaller rocks but mostly rely on mum. We have attracted the one cubs attention for a few minutes but it’s mother is only interested in food. Not to worry there were good photos face on but it is common to have the grizzly in this position as it is easier to roll rocks down hill.
Ian and Julie’s photo is another first in that is has multiple spy hops from a pod of killer whales. I remember the day but cannot recall the reason for this spy hopping. It obviously occurs when the orca want to see the above water activity which may be a fast moving boat, commercial fishing in the area and even saw spy hopping when one the “Whale Research Vessels” was flying a drone to get some pictures. Also note on shore in the right hand corner the campers on the beach watching the orca pass. There are numerous kayak camps along the shore which are very busy in the summer.
A comment on their visit form our Southern neighbours Ian and Julie Anderson: “Just a note to thank you for a fantastic couple of days, we came away from your lodge in a state of amazement. We had so many wonderful experiences and have told everyone that they should go and see you.” The best advertisement we can get is an endorsement from our guests. Thank you very much. The first photo is mine just to show the location of the lodge in relation to Ian and Julie’s photos. We do occasionally get humpback whales in front of the lodge but they are normally located in the middle of the bay where you see the boat passing. All I can add is that all our guest manage to get good photos of grizzly bears but these photo of whales directly off shore in front of the lodge are a first as is the photo in tomorrows post.
I like David’s photo of the diving humpback whale diving as the swirls in the water shows the power of the dive. The vertical tail indicated that it will be a deep dive and for me that means that it “might” be followed by some lunge feeding or even a breach. These whales show up in out view waters near the north end of Vancouver Island is late May and rather than travelling north to Alaska stay is this area to feed because of the abundance of herring one of their preferred food. David thanks again for the great photos.
Bald Eagles are frequently sighted in our area. At times they can be seen in large numbers. This is usually where food supplies are high. For example this could be in areas with high concentrations of baitfish or along the rivers in the fall when the salmon are spawning. They are not migratory, but do move around with the food supply. As mentioned earlier when the salmon are spawning we often see many along the rivers, while there will be fewer along the coastline. With little need for camouflage their white head and tail feathers can be spotted easily. The female is slightly larger and her white head extends down a bit farther onto the body, but it is subtle. It takes these birds 4.5 – 5 years to acquire this unique plumage. As juveniles they are a brown colour. With exceptional eyesight and the ability to view 270 degrees they are understandably often seen in high perches and in trees near points and passageways.
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