We offer an exceptional fly-in lodge for Grizzly Bear Watching and Whale Watching in British Columbia.
Learn about What’s happening at the Lodge, view our British Columbia’s Wildlife Report, read our Grizzly Bear Watching Blog and Whale Watching Blog. Learn more about a Day on the River Blog, see Our Tour Guide’s Photos & Blog and Photos from Our Guests.
This is a classic picture of a male orca (large dorsal fin) and a female orca a.k.a. killer whales or blackfish. Growing up in Campbell River on Vancouver Island I knew orca as blackfish the name killer whales or orca became more common after the start of the Eco tours. The area adjacent to Johnstone where we frequently view the orca is known as Blackfish Sound a name predating the operation of Eco tours.
This year has been an excellent year for humpback whales. Most “whales days” view eight to ten whales. This is an excellent picture of a humpback whale fluking or its tail fin. When a whale goes for a deeper dive it tends to push it’s nose down faster which lifts it back higher out of the water and this is normally followed by an opportunity for a good “fluke” picture.
Although this is not the same mother and cubs from yesterdays posting the size difference is notable. This picture was taken two months later and the cub size is significant. The salmon have arrived in the Glendale River and the bears have moved up the river to the area of the viewing stands which we are permitted to use after August 24th. Mother grizzly bears catch and share the salmon with the cubs but on occasion they want one for themselves and often move to deeper water were the cubs have a harder time stealing their mothers catch. Although grizzlies are excellent swimmers the cubs have a difficult time swimming with a moth full of a salmon.
Spring and early summer grizzly bear viewing from the lodge occurs along the shore of Knight Inlet’s Glendale River estuary. The mother grizzly bears bring their cubs to this area to feed on the sedge grass and roll the beach rocks to grab any available protein. This inter-tidal zone “food” is high in protein and is made up of crab, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. These are July cubs under the watchful eye of their mother.
Just like that our season has come to an end. I would like to thank all of our wonderful guests and staff who made this year a huge success. I am happy to stay that all of our team is planning to return next season. We are actively taking bookings, with dates starting June 1 2025. Hope to see many of you next season.
The wildlife viewing this season was awesome. A couple highlights that come to mind was the shear number of salmon in our local rivers, as well as the abundance of Resident Orca. With salmon returns being so strong this year, we were happy to see bears in excellent condition. By the end of our season most of the bears had packed on a lot of weight and were getting very “picky” about what parts of the salmon they would eat. Hopefully this will translate into more cubs being born this winter. Another positive was the weather conditions. We had enough rain to keep our fire risks low and it made for some excellent wild berries. The bears took full advantage of this, with the berry season extending far past its normal conclusion. This did mean that we had to work hard to find bears during our summer season, (as they were often feeding on the berries deep into the forest), but moving forward it is excellent that they had such an abundant food supply. The Humpbacks also didn’t disappoint, with great numbers and a few new calves returning with their mothers to feed. After a slower year for resident Orca sightings, this season was one of the best that I can remember. In fact as Im writing this the A62 and A23’s are still being spotted in the area by dedicated biologists. Strong numbers of Chinook and Chum salmon are providing them with a steady food source. There are a lot of positive signs and we are hopeful that 2025 will be another great season.
Over the winter and spring we will be doing some repairs and maintenance. We plan on having a new cedar front deck built in time for the 2025 season, as well as new ceilings and paint in parts of the lodge and rooms. Theres always projects on the go.
Felix, Julien, Ryan, Zack and Myself all look forward to welcoming guest in June. See everyone soon.
Angus Reid
Visit our Blog