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.
While waiting for salmon to move up river a grizzly bear visits her cub that is sitting on a rock trying to stay dry. First year grizzly cubs are to young for fishing and do not like to get wet unless absolutely necessary. This cub had been sitting for a while and started to make noises when mother came over to make sure all was OK before she returned to work.
Black bear cubs tend to stay close to their mother when they are walking the beach. If a noise startles them while we are watching from the boat they run to mother rather than up the beach for cover. They only go up the beach if the mother says and then it is into a tree. As the photo show they are almost synchronized with mother in their walking.
The largest of the dolphins and one of the world’s most powerful predators does like to play around boats as do the pacific white sides of yesterday’s post. It is not uncommon to have killer whales / orca come along side the boat if you happen to be stopped as a pod is fishing in the area. I am not sure if the salmon are schooling under the boat for safety but I know that I once had one large (10 plus kilo – 25 lbs) spring salmon try to hide under my boat when there were killer whales in the area. That is me leaning over the side of the boat taking the picture.
Whenever we are fortunate enough to come upon a large pod of pacific white sided dolphins I am not sure who has the most fun, my guests or the dolphins. The dolphins leap out of the water doing flips, ride the bow wave, follow along side the boat and nose up within a meter of the boat’s prop. While doing all this the guest get great shots of water, air and even some that contain dolphins. More than once I have had guest say that the dolphins make the day.
The viewing platform used on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River provide a slightly downward angle to the grizzly bears. In this case the grizzly was beneath the platform providing an excellent view of it’s claws. Over the years we have had return guests who had come at both times of the season and as of yet there is no agreement to which is best.
Watching a grizzly bear from our 5.5 meter (18 foot) flat bottom river skiff is different than from the viewing stands. On the Glendale River or along the shore of it’s bay you are at “eye-level” and often receive that direct eye to eye contact which is permissible at a distance. Close up it could be viewed as a threat so it is avoided. This is the viewing prior to August 25th when we move to the stands on the river. See tomorrows posts….
“The Steller Sea Lion Recovery Team recommended in 2000 that researchers begin branding and marking Steller sea lion pups throughout their range as a means to estimate vital population parameters in the future. Population parameters such as survival, age at first reproduction, and natality are important factors to understand population dynamics and gauge the health and stability of populations. Specific rookery sites were chosen to initiate these long term marking studies, both in the western and eastern stocks. For the eastern stock, three rookery sites were chosen in southeast Alaska (Forrester, Hazy and White Sisters) and 2 were chosen further south off southern Oregon and northern California (Rogue Reef and St. George Reef).” Patrick J. Gearin NOAA, AFSC, National marine Mammal Laboratory. Over the years we have seen sea lions with brands originating in both Alaska (Forrester) and California (Rouge Reef).
Steller sea lions inhabit our area all year however their number increase dramatically in the spring and fall when they are migrating between California and Alaska. A haul-out is a nice place to visit but the noise and smell can be overpowering so once all photos are taken we tend to move.
Not much to add on this photo except that again we were in the right place at the right time. In part due to the skill of the guide but as I often say “I would rather have luck than skill when photographing wildlife”.
This has been my computer’s “Desktop” background for years. Its is complements of an English guest who was fortunate to be “ready” when we were in the right place at the right time. Humpback whales breaching are much more frequent than a picture of a humpback breach.
Just like that another season has come to an end. We are grateful for all the wonderful staff and the guests this season. It was an excellent season and we are already looking forward to next May.
One of the highlights of the season was all of the new cubs out. It was awesome to see so many new cubs of the year and that is great news for our bear populations moving forward. We had great spring viewing and this continued through summer. On our river trips we started to see salmon arriving in August and enjoyed some great shoulder season viewing. The fish at the viewing platforms were a little late showing up this year, but viewing during late September at the platforms was great and the estuary viewing remained strong throughout the season.
Out in the whale watching world it was another year that saw large numbers of resident Orca who remained in the area right into October. The Humpback viewing was also great with large numbers feeding in Blackfish Sound. It is so amazing to have these magnificent animals back in our waters in such numbers.
Over the winter and spring we will be doing some repairs and maintenance. We rebuilt the front deck last spring, utilising cedar cut on site. We will continue with some siding, rooms improvements and hopefully a floating sauna ready for the start of our season.
2026 is already looking like a very busy season for us. We only have limited high season availability so please book early to ensure we have space for your group.
Looking forward to seeing you next year
Angus Reid
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