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.
Black Bears are a common sight in our area. Unlike the Grizzly Bears they do not congregate in great numbers around the salmon rivers. They would if they could, but the Grizzlies are the more dominant bear and push the Black Bears out. Black Bears are smaller and have short, very sharp claws that allow them to climb trees with ease. Grizzly’s long, curved digging claws prevent them from climbing, except as young cubs.
Anette’s final comment: “On the way back we met a humpback pair that swam around the boat at a distance of about 10 meters and diving just when they got along side of us.
The best wishes for the coming season. We’re quite a bit envious of this seasons clients!” It is not only the guest that miss Grizzly Bear Lodge at this time of the year the guides start thinking about the coming season and checking their gear to get ready for another summer of hard “work”. Again Anette “Thank You” for the great photos and comments it is always better if viewers get their information first hand from happy guest.
The first photo show two grizzlies approaching the stand from down river while the second has them looking for salmon from the river bank opposite or viewing site. Excellent pictures of grizzly bears that have learned to ignore us and get on with fattening for winter hibernation.
Anette’s comments continue: “The next day we went bear watching with Glenn and we saw about 15 grizzlies amongst those a cub that had got away from it’s mother (standing on its hind legs scouting). We’re sure it was reunited with the mother just 2 minutes after we lost sight….” September grizzly bear watching is on one of two platforms we use on Knight Inlets Glendale River. Our preferred stand has the natural river on one side where the cub is standing and the entrance to the spawning channel n the other. The second photo is of a grizzly that is directly below the platform maybe five meters away.
Again the time stamp on the photos show that this breach was three minutes after the previous breach in yesterdays post and the pectoral fin slapping was just one minute after this second breach. Anette managed some incredible photos to save her memories.
“….and with the young humpback that put on an hour long show of 5-6 breaches and countless tail and fin slaps just for us.” I remember this day as it was also memorable for me as I never tire of my time on the water. This humpback would take a deep dive and then breach almost as if on a schedule. If you notice the back ground hills it is the same from a different angle. I have the advantage of the time stamp that says these photos were taken with in the same minute.
If I read the time stamps on the photos correctly after our time with the killer whales would have come a stop in Telegraph Cove to use the bathroom and stretch our legs. The length of time in the Cove is determined by the guests but in most cases it is short as the action is on the water. After leaving Telegraph we visit the Steller sea lion that spent some time in the area when migrating between California and Alaska. If you look closely to the left of the sea lions there is a bald eagle sitting in the tree drying it’s wings wet from the morning mist. Yesterday’s post continues tomorrow …..
Anette’s visit was September 3, 2015 and she has sent us some first class photos of their time with us last season. She provides: “A little story to go with some of the pictures: We had a great day spotting whales with George. Our son Nicolas (12 at the time) summed it up when he exclaimed “This is the best day of my life”. At that time we had had a long day with lots of orcas, including the bull on the picture who chose to take his herd very close to the boat,……”
This photo was NOT taken the same time as the previous two days posting. If I had seen whales I would not have gone that close to a herring ball. The point of locating a herring ball is to be “close by” when the humpback whales come to feed. “Close by” does not mean sitting on the herring ball as that would not be a comfortable or safe place to be located. This photo is thanks to Gary Wilson from Australia.
This is a small herring ball near the edge of the boat. The two white flashes are not herring but ducks feeding in the herring and this is why the herring get in a tight ball for defense. So they are now providing food for ducks, seagulls and eagles. The “safe” aspect mentioned in yesterdays post will be shown in tomorrows….
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