Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Tour Blog
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.
Grizzly bears fishing?
This could be mistaken for a “fight” or disagreement over the right to fish on a certain part of Knight Inlet’s Glendale River but actually it is a mother grizzly bear disciplining her second year cubs. Even sitting down you can see she has a definite weight advantage and check the size of the stomachs. This mid-October photo shows that these bears are in good shape for hibernation. The grizzly or brown bears of BC we view on our wildlife safari trips do well in hibernation because of the abundance of salmon.
Bald eagle sunning after a rain
Even eagles need to get dry. On the lodge’s wilderness tours it is not uncommon to see bald eagle with their wings spread either enjoying the sun or drying after a rain shower. Glen’s photo also shows a pretty good balancing act if you look closely this eagle is standing on one foot while spreading it’s wings. Not the average bird show.
Grizzly Bear Claws
A great photo by Glen, one of the guides, of a large male’s grizzly on the Glendale River. In spite of the black colouring it is a grizzly if you have looked at other photos post in the blog or the many on the website you will see that the bears in our grizzly bear viewing area range from one that is so blonde (cream) it is almost white to every shade of brown to almost black. The coats can be a relatively uniform colour or have markings of various shades of colours. In this case the claws are a give away they are much longer that a black bear claws. Click photo then click again to enlarge.
Trees of interest
Almost anything and everything will be of interest to guests. One of my first comments to guest in the boat is that if your want to stop, slow down or go in any direction for a photograph please let me know. We do not run on a tight schedule about the only guideline is to be back to the lodge for dinner as a result there are always interesting photos. Some guests have an interest in birds and some in the variety of scenery some even lake pictures of the bears.
Humpback whale calf
Over the past five years humpback whales have become summer residents in the area we travel to look for killer whales (orca). The area of Johnstone Strait especially around Bold Head in Blackfish sound has become the summer home of humpback whales and their calves. It is common to view between eight and twelve whales on each trip from the lodge. The whale watching safari’s normally see orca, humpback whales, minke whales, sea lions, harbour seals, dolphins, harbour porpoise, dall’s porpoise, eagles and the occasional black bear.
Black Bear on the beach
Your first evening at Grizzly Bear Lodge involves an evening boat run in the local waters looking for black bears. At low tides the bears come to the beach to roll rocks for protein in the form of small crab, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. Guest often ask how do the bears know when there will be a low tide? When we travel along the shore by boat it is possible to pick up the smell of the beach and it is said that bears are thought to have the best sense of smell of any animal on earth. For example, the average dog’s sense of smell is 100 times better than humans. A bloodhound’s is 300 times better. A bear’s sense of smell is 7 times better than a bloodhound’s or 2,100 times better than a human. Simply stated they smell low tide and food.
Defending fishing rights
A great action photo of one grizzly asserting its fishing rights. Almost looks like a lecture but I think it has gone a little beyond a discussion. The disagreements on the Glendale River, which is Grizzly Bear Lodge’s viewing area, tend to be settled with a few roars and mock charges and then all is well and life continues. The compatibility of the bears is due to the common reason for being on the river; that is food in the form of salmon to provide the fat to survive the winter. In the end survival always wins.
Pacific white-sided dolphins
Whether on a whale watching safari to Johnstone Strait, grizzly bear trip up Knight Inlet or on the way to Trapper Rick’s on the Kakweikan River there is a chance to play with dolphins. Dolphins are spending their summers in our viewing area and at time in pods of several hundreds. They tend to be very active and to not shy away from boats in fact if you want to be left alone it is necessary to stop the boat and wait until they pass on to another area.
Grizzly and cubs
A well-fed family. This photo of a mother grizzly bear and two-year-old cubs was taken in October near the end of the salmon run in Knight Inlets’ Glendale River. These grizzly have had all season to put on their winter layer of fat to make sure they would be able to survive hibernation. The spring tours from the lodge would find these bears on the beach turning over rocks for protein as well as eating sedge grass. In the summer they still appear on the beach at low tides but substitute berries for the sedge grass. And of course in by late August they are on the river enjoying the abundance of pink salmon returning to spawn in the Glendale River. The tour schedule from Grizzly Bear Lodge follows the bears as they change their feeding habits viewing first from the water in the estuary to the viewing stands at the spawning channel.
