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.
On most days whale watching we have opportunities to obtain both the active and the sedate photos. It is all a matter of being able to position the boat to get the best photo. The only problem is that the whales do not always agree with the guide as to what is the best position so it may take several tries.
A very action filled photo with a humpback whale lunge feeding on a ball of herring. One can see the herring being sprayed out of it’s mouth and seagulls coming into pick up the wounded herring. But it is really hard to picture this as a whale feeding whereas tomorrows post is more sedate….
This first year bald eagle is flying high over the area on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River where we watch grizzly bears from viewing platforms. The eagles are in the area for the same reason that the bears come to the river – salmon. The spawning cycle of the salmon attract grizzly bears, black bears, eagles, seagulls and wolves to the river valleys. Wolves are seldom viewed but the rest are in abundance. In this case the eagle is looking for a salmon carcass to scavenge as this is much easier than catching you own.
These two photos show some thing that is pretty obvious but if you are much further away it is hard to tell what is making the white water. Pacific white sided dolphins may travel in pods of twenty-five to over one thousand. In either case they seem to like playing with a moving boat. After guest spend time with the dolphins it is hard to make their day get any better but we keep trying.
.. as large male grizzly comes around the same corner toward the stands. Normally when the large males come to fish the other grizzlies back off the fishing area but on this day they did share even if the mother and cubs did keep a respectful distance.
.. her cubs which eventually come into sight. Once the cubs get closer she appears much more cautious and makes sure the cubs stay close. Her speed picks up as she moves into the area near the stands and starts to fish. Soon the reason for her change of attitude appears….
It is after August 24th and we are in the grizzly bear viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. A grizzly comes slowly around the corner toward the stands. It stops and looks back waiting for…..
This is another photo provided by our guests from a posting in December 19 to 21 of 2015 (can check the sidebar and go to Dec. 2015). An eagle had been reported in the water, far from shore, swimming toward the beach. By the time we got close enough to get it out of the water it was in rough shape. We managed to get the eagle quite dry and to a safe place on the beach. When we checked later it was gone so we assumed it made a recovery.
Most bears have the equivalent eyesight as humans; however, like humans, there is quite a bit of variation. Some bears have great vision, and some, especially older bears, may have degraded eyesight. But as a general rule, bears see things in better detail than deer, and about the same as humans.
Part of the poor vision myth comes from the fact that because their noses and hearing are so good that they do not rely as much on their vision. If the wind keeps our scent from the bear we are ignored. What about hearing you say? I have noticed that the bars tend to look up the beach to were normal danger might occur and it appears that they also hear the echo of our motors from that direction and do no look toward the boat. Thus good viewing of black bears.
This is the look you get from a grizzly bear when the current pushes you within their comfort zone. The happened this past September on the way down Knight Inlet coming back from the day’s grizzly watching tour. We were looking for black bear when one of my guests spotted this grizzly eating kelp on the shore. We turned off the motor and let the tide do the rest and unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your viewpoint) we drifted closer than we should have but in deep water. With tide and wind it is impossible to paddle the larger boat and we did not want to start the motor and scare the bear. We eventually moved past the grizzly which remained on the beach eating.
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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