Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Tour Blog

On Grizzly Bear Lodge’s wildlife tours during the hot days of July and August we frequently see grizzly bears in the water. The water in Knight Inlet’s Glendale estuary is a mixture of salt and fresh water which the grizzly bears often drink when the tide is going out. On a rising tide the surface water contains more salt so less drinking. It is better to have the grizzlies wading and swimming and cooling off in the water than moving into the shade away from our viewing.

The grizzly bear claws are incredibly long, thick and powerful. The nails themselves can be 5 to 6 inches long. They use them to do more digging than any other bear species, digging dens, uprooting shrubs, shredding logs and stumps in search of insects and tubers, and turning over rocks on the beach. Also used to catch and hold salmon while they eat. This over head view is of a grizzly as it walks beneath the viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River where we spend our viewing time after August 24th.

In the spring the grizzly bears we view on the lodges wilderness tours are primarily grazing or turning over rocks.  They come down to the shores of Knight Inlet to eat the sedge grass, which is very high in protein. This sedge sustains them until the salmon enter the rivers of British Columbia’s coast in mid-August. The morning grizzly bear tour uses 18 to 20 foot boats to travel up Knight Inlet to the Glendale River where we transfer to smaller a boat that allow us to drift along the shore to watch and hear the bears eating. This flat bottom skiff also permits us to follow the grizzly bears up river as the tide rises.

Necessary because the grizzlies already fishing for salmon are a mother with two cubs (look closely at the top right corner of the photo) and another large female. This bear is a four or five year old male and they are always cautious around other grizzlies especially a mother with cubs.

The grizzly slowly starts down the bank to the holding pool, keeping its eyes lowered so it does not appear aggressive. The approach is necessary….

We are in the first viewing stand looking down the finger of land that links us to the second stand. This grizzly bear came up from the natural river and is crossing the track of road on its way to the pool holding the salmon waiting to enter the man made spawning channel. Its first glance is toward our position which is approximately 25 meters (yards) from the bear…