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.

Too Many Salmon

Grizzly with salmon

When a grizzly bear is more concerned about a small piece of salmon on its leg than the one slipping into the water it means it is not worried about catching another. The white shapes in the water around the bear are salmon. The past summer was very hot, the water level in the river low which caused low oxygen content in the water and a die off of several thousand salmon. For this reason the grizzlies knew they could easily catch salmon to eat. This lasted for several weeks until the rains came and fresh salmon moved up river.

 

 

River Grizzly Bear

Shore walker grizzly

The first half of the grizzly bear watching season occurs along the shores of Knight Inlet, the Glendale River estuary and up the river. There are eight to ten bears that are in this area all the time then some come for a time then move on to another area. This bear we encountered while on the river was one of those around for a short time. It was very cautious and constantly glancing our way unlike the “resident” bears, which tend to ignore the boats and people. Normally the only thing that will really make a bear leave suddenly is another larger bear.

 

 

Steller Sea Lions 2 of 2

sealions

Steller sea lions are social and gather at various times throughout the year when mating and breeding are not taking place. They use traditional haul out sites (an area used for resting) and rookeries (an area used for breeding and rearing young) on remote and exposed islands. These sites can be rock shelves, ledges, boulders, and gravel or sand beaches. Even in crowds, the big bulls are unmistakable—they are three times larger than females.

Weight:   males: up to 2,500 pounds (1,120 kg)   females: up to 770 pounds (350 kg)   pups: about 35-50 pounds (16-22.5 kg)

Length:   males: about 10-11 feet (3-3.4 m)    females: about 7.5-9.5 feet (2.5-3.0 m)    pups: about 3.3 feet (1 m)

 

 

Stellar Sea Lions 1 of 2

Sea lions close

Steller sea lions range throughout the Pacific Rim (from northern California to Northern Honshu in Japan, and to the Bering Strait). About 70 percent of the Steller sea lion population reside in Alaska. They do not migrate like some pinnipeds, but they do move seasonally to different feeding and resting areas. Late May and early June as well as September and October seem to be the time of the year when there are more sea lions in our area. However over the past several years more have remained in the area all year.  In the water they do not seem that large but they are curious and often visit us as we watch them on shore (see tomorrows posting).

 

 

Pacific white-sided dolphins

Pacific whitesided dolphins

Pacific white-sided dolphins are frequently viewed on all our wildlife tours.  There are estimated to be 900,000 pacific white-sided dolphins in the North Pacific. Dolphins travel in groups throughout their lives. In B.C., Pacific white-sided dolphins are usually encountered in groups of 10 – 100 animals, although some groups have been seen with 2,000 or more individuals. Dolphin remains are present in First Nation’s middens (waste heap) dating back 2,000 years, but were rare in B.C. during the 19th and 20th centuries. They were first spotted by fishermen in 1956 north of Vancouver Island, and sightings became more common in the 1980’s as Pacific white-sided dolphins started to spend more time in inshore waters and inlets along the B.C. coast. It’s possible that their long absence was related to a change in ocean temperatures and a shift in their prey distribution.

 

One for the Road

Grizzly cubs with salmon

We had been watching this mother catch, eat and share salmon with her cubs for about forty-five minutes. As this mother decided it was time to move on the one cub did not want to but a few growls and it grabbed the salmon it did not want to leave and started to follow. As first year cubs they do not stray to far from their mother even for food.

 

First Sighting of Grizzly Bears

Grizzly bear in river estuary

For the first half of the season at Grizzly Bear Lodge our bear tours require us to use a skiff to view the grizzlies along the shore of Knight Inlet and in the Glendale River. As the tide starts to rise we move up the river to view the grizzlies grazing on sedge grass or digging up roots and as the salmon arrive they are in the river. The first sighting (picture above) of a bear is the most exciting and the guests start taking photos and do not seem to listen when the guide says their will be better opportunities later (picture below). As we move up the river we stay to one side and the bears are often just across the river, a river that is only 15 to 20 meters (yards) wide. The bears have accepted our presence and as long as we are quiet and make no sudden moves we are ignored.

Grizzly bear family on river

 

 

 

 

Bald Eagle Bathing

Eagle Bathing

This is the case of “I know it must happen but I had never seen it.”. A bald eagle is a bird and birds need to take a bath. This was the day that the guests had to wait for the guide to watch something that he had never seen but once I had explained how rare this was there was more interest on their part. I have been on this river in the summer for more than twenty summers first as a fishing guide and now wildlife viewing so to say that this is rare is an understatement.

 

 

Four Grizzly Bears?

How many grizzlies

If my memory serves me there are four grizzlies in this photo.  They are Bella and her two cubs plus another sub-adult. Actually there were two sub-adult siblings that came to the Glendale River estuary and they played with Bella’s cubs. We (the guides) were not able to identify the siblings but thought they must be related to Bella or she would not have been so friendly or allowed them to play. In the spring (June and July) there are a number of bears that make the river estuary their home plus bears that are travelling through and may stay for a few days or weeks.

 

 

Humpback Whale Fluking

Humpback Whale Tail

 

 

 

 

 

Humpback Whale Tail 2

Humpback Whale Tail 2

Humpback Whale Tail 4

Not much to say except that Angus (guide and owner) got a great sequence of photos. Even thought there are many whales in our viewing area it is still hard to be in the right place at the right time and get a good photo especially when you are the one operating the boat and that is a full time job.