Grizzly Bear Looking into Camera
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.
Orca while whale watching
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The resident orcas arrive in the area adjacent to the East Coast of Vancouver Island in the Johnstone Strait normally by the start of July and remain in the area through October. The residents are the salmon eating orca. The transient orca, mammal eaters, is in the are all year but spend much of their time is the inlets away from much of the marine traffic. R. W. Baird says “Membership in each (group) begins at birth and cultural bonds and identity continue throughout life. Residents and transients differ in diet, vocal traditions, habitat range, morphology (shape of dorsal fin, etc.), pigmentation patterns (such as the eye patch) and genetically. Though they cross paths routinely throughout the inland waters of BC and Washington State, the two forms are becoming, or by some accounts are already, separate species. DNA work indicates that they have not interbred for at minimum one hundred thousand years.” This great photos provided by Marc and Solange Edouard from France are of two female resident orcas and a lone male.
Orca in a rest line or sleeping
The website “eHow” provides the best explanation of “How Do Killer Whales Sleep?”“Like dolphins, killer whales are voluntary breathers, meaning their breathing is not automatic like it is for humans. Instead, they must consciously rise to the surface and breathe. This makes sleeping for them much different than it is for other animals. Studies on dolphins and beluga whales have shown that they sleep by shutting down only one hemisphere of the brain at a time, thereby allowing them to both rest and have control over their breathing. It is thought that killer whales, being closely related to dolphins, do the same thing. Resting behaviors differ depending on whether the killer whale is by itself or part of a pod. If it is alone, it will rest by staying near the surface, with dorsal fin, blowhole and part of the head out of the water. Usually this only lasts for a few minutes at a time, but there have been reports of killer whales resting this way for up to eight hours.Killer whales in pods sleep differently. The pod will form a tight circle, and their breathing and movements will synchronize. They take several breaths at the surface, and then submerge for a period of time before surfacing again. The time spent submerged increases as the “sleep” becomes deeper, and they may take up to ten breaths near the surface before submerging for as long as ten minutes. Pods resting like this will avoid boats and contact with other animals during this process. It is thought that this kind of group resting may strengthen the animals’ bond and cohesiveness as a unit.”
Grizzly bear cub and mother
The tide in coming in the grizzly bears of Glendale Cove on Knight Inlet move off the beach where they have been turning over rock looking for protein rich food. Because our schedule enables us to spend a day in the Glendale River estuary at sometime there will be a low tide to bring the bears onto the beach. If we arrive at high tide we first spend time up the river in the tall sedge grass where the bears tend to graze and as the tide drops we leave the river and move along the inter-tidal zone while the bears search for “beach food”. This August photo taken by Marc and Solange Edouard from France shows this year’s cub, about seven months old.
Pacific White-side dolphins on a tour
Often when the lodge is at capacity, eight guests, we travel in two boats and this provides an opportunity for a great photo. In this case we were traveling with a pod of pacific white-sided dolphins that like to play with the boats. When they have had enough fun riding the bow wave or running within a few feet of the back of the boat they leave and we proceed to our destination. The eight quests in the lodge means you eat with the staff and meals last as long you have questions about the day you just enjoyed or the next day’s tour. Conversations at the table cover all and any topic the key is “What happens in the boat stays in the boat unless the guest brings it up first.” But once a story of a day’s misadventure is told it is open season on guest and guides.
Spring Grizzly Bears
The grizzly bear tours from the lodge on Minstrel Island run up Knight Inlet to the area of Glendale Cove. By mid-May the mother grizzlies bring their cubs to the shore of Knight Inlet and start to make their way toward the Glendale estuary. Berries are note yet ripe so the best source of protein is the sedge grass that grows in the estuary. The cubs in May seem to have an aversion to water but by mid August when this picture was taken they rather enjoy the water as a way to cool down and play.
An abundance of Eagles
Bald eagles are common on your tour days whether looking for whales or heading up Knight Inlet to the grizzly bears. The goal of most quests after they have seen a number of eagles sitting in the trees to far away for even a long lens to get a good picture is to get close. This takes time but we normally manage a few good pictures. Actually the best pictures are often taken at the lodge where the resident eagle have a nest and spend time in the tree along the shore close to the lodge. Spring and early summer there is an abundance of eagles on the whale watching days as they are on the ocean feeding on herring. As soon as the salmon arrive in the rivers in late summer and the fall the eagle migrate to the rivers for the left over salmon after the grizzly have eaten their fill.
Glendale Cove and a rising tide
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Time to come out of the water, playtime is over, need to head to higher ground as the beach disappears under the incoming tide. The shore of the Glendale River estuary is an ideal place, at a low tide, to turn over rocks to find that mobile protein but as the tide comes in it becomes grazing time on the protein rich sedge grass. As the tide comes in even more it is time to move up the shore into the river delta and higher ground. And that is exactly what we do with our guests. We travel up Knight Inlet is larger “speed boats” and once we reach the viewing area we transfer to shallow draft skiff about eighteen feet long and seven feet wide which makes it stable enough to walk around in and have no fear of rocking. This skiff allows us to follow the grizzly bears up the river through the tall grass and pretend we are on the “African Queen”.
Shore break in Telegraph Cove
Some day as much as I try I cannot avoid being in a photo. There is a reason for showing this, as we do not have many photos taken in Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island. I was with the Edouard family from France when we stopped for our “bathroom break”. Eight or so hours on the water during a whale watching days does call for a break and that normally means Telegraph Cove. One can leave the boat and stretch your legs, use the facilities, purchase a coffee or hot chocolate (we have a good picnic lunch and soda pop on board), visit the shop or the whale museum. The amount of time spent ashore is up to the guest someday’s it is an hour or two other days enough time to use the bathroom then we are off again to have lunch with the whales. As long as you remember I have been here before and would rather be on the water so the amount of time is your decision.
Black Bear Island Hopping – Set II
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The bear left the small island for a larger one although this one was not much more than half and acre in size. This was in late August so the bear was starting to produce a reasonable layer of fat this is indicated by how far the head and shoulders are out of the water. In the spring all only the head would be visible the back under water. All in all the bear passed over three small islands until it reached Tourner Island which is close or ten miles long. The red “berries” are rose hips, which are the fruit from of a wild rose bush. As guides spending our summers in the area on the east coast of Vancouver Island and the water of Knight Inlet working for Grizzly Bear Lodge we all have been with the lodge for at least ten years and in the area for twenty-five years or more. We rely on experience in our boat handling and knowledge of the area but luck is a great companion with wildlife viewing ask any wildlife photographer.
