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.

Grizzly Bear Fishing

Adult Grizzly Eating

When there is an abundance of salmon grizzly bears become selective. Male salmon because they do not contain high fat roe (eggs) are second choice. We watched this bear pass several males until it selected a female. Also this was late September and the grizzlies had been feeding on salmon for a month and a half, which also makes them more selective as they bulk up for hibernation.

 

 

Confusing orca photo

Orca?

These two orca / killer whales passed under our boat and surfaced a few meters (yards) away. Explanation: looking at the photo their appears to be a dorsal fin at the top of the photo but it cannot be from the main orca because that would mean it was coming out of it’s belly. The belly of an orca is white and it is possible to see the tip of the tail at the end of the photo. So it could be one orca diving over the back of another or the dorsal fin could be the tail of another orca and the second one is following too close. Either way it was close.

 

 

Learn through imitation 2 of 2

Grizzly cub rolling rock

On grizzly bears tours from the lodge in the spring we watch the grizzlies along the shore scrapping mussels and barnacles from logs and turning over rocks for high in protein food made up of crab, clams, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. This cub less than six months old is already turning over rocks to supplement mothers milk, which has 4.5 times more fat and 17 times more protein than human milk.

 

 

Learn through imitation 1 of 2

Eating like MoM

The first and second year grizzly bear cubs we observe on our tours in the area of Knight Inlet are learning the necessary life skills from their mother. In this case it sat in the water held the salmon in one paw and started to eat. Rolling rocks is tomorrow’s post.

 

 

Humpback Whale Close

Humpback Whale Tail

If I recall this photo correctly it was one on the few times I have seen a humpback whale passing under our boat. We often eat our picnic lunch in the same area that the humpbacks are feeding. Of course at lunchtime the motor is off and we drift quietly. It is common at this time for whales to surface near the boat but this was the rare time when it continued and we could see it under the boat.

 

Grizzly Bear Siblings

Grizzly siblings fishing

Female grizzlies reach sexual maturity at 4.5 years and males at roughly the same age as their female counterparts. For this reason it is common for siblings to stay together after they leave their mother and even den together until one becomes pregnant and dens on her own. These siblings may share a den, spend time together and fish together but they will not share this salmon. When if comes to food it is “winner keeps not shares”.

 

 

Big enough for a small Grizzly

Male Balck Bear

This photo shows a large male black bear in the late fall. Late fall because it has had a long time to fatten on all the berries and the protein it scavenged from the beach. On your first evening on the lodge we go on an hour plus tour looking for black bear and every trip from the lodge runs along the shore looking for black bears. This past season all the guests saw grizzlies but not everyone saw a black bear. The berries were plentiful this year and lasted longer than normal so there were fewer bears on the beach. However the bears we saw were big.

 

 

Steller sealions at rest?

Steller sea lions

This was one of those rare times when the sealions were actually resting and not roaring and climbing over each other. But if you look closely you do not see any young sealions only the adults. It is the young that come out of the water and want to move to the top of the rock what cause all the problems and noise. The quiet only lasted five minutes and it turned to chaos and better opportunities for photos of roaring sealions.

 

 

Caught one 2 of 2

Grizzly fishing

Another technique used by grizzly bears for catching salmon is to walk along the shore and select the one you want to eat. This worked well last summer for several weeks after a hot period and no rain. The water in the river and spawning channel was very low and got very warm causing close to a thousand fish to suffocate and provide easy meals for the bears.

 

 

Caught one 1 of 2

Grizzlies in river estuary

Grizzly bear watching in August after the salmon have arrived can be very entertaining. As the tide rises we move up the river with the salmon and meet the grizzlies as they come down river to fish for salmon. It is important to note that not all grizzlies are not created equal when it comes to fishing. Many of the younger bears use the “dash and splash technique”, which is great for photos but not for catching salmon. On this day the one bear used the “wait and it will come to me approach” and was very successful. This catch was its third of the morning.