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.
I took this video up at the viewing platforms in late August. The viewing was great and there are a ton of pink salmon in the pool. Bears normally do not like to put their ears underwater when looking for salmon. This year, however we saw a huge increase in “diving bears”
https://www.facebook.com/sailcone/videos/1734088896617433/
Bald Eagles are a common and always welcome sight in our area. They are an opportunistic feeders and although they don’t migrate they do tend to move around with the food. In the spring we see large numbers of them in Blackfish Sounds feeding on the vast amounts of herring. As the salmon enter the rivers many of these eagles do the same feeding on the carcases of spawned out salmon. Eagles mate for life so when you see two of these birds together they are usually a pair. It is hard to tell male from female in these birds, although the female eagle tends to be larger and has a slightly deeper call.
Of course Grizzly Bears enjoy feeding on salmon. Salmon is not the only seafood that they enjoy, however. At low tide the beaches are covered in protein rich shellfish. This mother and cub are feeding on mussels. The bears chew the mussels shell and all. On a calm, quiet day you can often hear the distinctive “crunching” of shells.
This is another photo taken right from the deck at Sailcone’s Grizzly Bear Lodge. We spend a lot of time out in Knight Inlet and Johnstone Strait looking for bears and whales. After a busy day viewing wildlife it is nice to head back to the lodge and take in the views.
This photo was taken be Felix Rome who helped out Trapper Rick at the river last year. This particular bear is known as Emily and has been around the area for many years having several sets of cubs. It is always rewarding for us to be able to watch the same bears return year after year and to watch them grow up.
Fish and birds aren’t the only ones who feed on herring balls. Humpbacks often do what is called a lunge feed where they come up from underneath the herring ball with their mouth open and try to consume as many fish as possible. Often when we are out whale watching you will see gulls feeding on a herring ball. When the birds lift off the water it usually means one of two things. Either the fish have dispersed or there is a whale coming up for a snack.
Out in Johnstone Strait it is common to get what are called “herring balls.” Basically these are schools of small baitfish that have been pushed to the surface by fish and diving birds such as aucklets and murrelets. The fish appear to boil on the surface and are easy prey for gulls and bald eagles.
Your adventure actually begins even before you arrive at the lodge. All of our guests fly in via floatplane from Campbell River on Vancouver Island. It is a scenic 40 minute flight over countless islands and channels that dot the southern section of the Great Bear Rainforest. The planes land on the water and park at the lodge’s dock. No long lines at customs to deal with here!
This is a picture of a Humpback Whale. We see Humpbacks quite often, so that in itself is not unusual. What is unique about this picture is that it is taken from the front deck at the lodge cruising by only a few meters from the beach. Sometimes it pays to stay put.
This is our typical area for conducting our spring Grizzly Bear Watching. River estuaries are rich feeding areas from many animals. The grass that you see her is Lyngbys sedge. In the spring it is particularly lush and is a major component of the bear’s diet providing much needed protein.
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
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