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.

People Watching Tour

Black Bear

This past summer black bears were hard to find along the shore as the berries seemed to last longer than normal so the bears stayed in the bushes. However we still managed some good photos and in this case I am not sure who was more interested the guests or the bear. The first evening in the lodge we do a black bear tour so you get to know your guide, the operation of the boat and work up an appetite for diner. See tomorrow’s post.

 

 

Grizzly Bear Posing

Grizzly Bear beach

This photo presents what seems to be a common pose for grizzly bears on a wildlife tour from our lodge. Fortunately the pose only lasts while the bear is turning over rocks and they do move from rock to rock and the trip allows hours of observing bears so there is ample time for good photos. The reason for this pose is the beaches slope to the water and it is easier to roll rocks downhill than uphill.

 

 

Bald Eagle Watching Us

Bald eagle

One of the hardest parts of a good photo of a bald eagle is not finding the eagle but getting a clear photo. Although this photo is interesting it would be better without the branch in the way. This required that I back the boat away from the eagle in hopes that it would not move than travel along the shore and drift back so the branch is behind the eagle. There are enough eagles in the area that if guests want a good picture they will get one.

 

 

Perspective on Whale Watching

orca with guests

When I am in the boat with guest I try to get photos that show that there are opportunities for good pictures. Although the Whale Watching Guideline specify that boats stay 100 meters (yards) from the orca / killer whales at sometime during your trip that may not be true. In the area we do our marine wildlife viewing there is less than eight boats whale watching and over the period of the day every one has an opportunity for photos. Once taken we move off to view the humpback whales, stellar sea lions, harbour seal, dolphins, porpoise, bald eagles and a variety of sea birds.  Must not leave out the black bears we often see as we travel between the viewing area and the Lodge.

 

 

Healthy Grizzly Bear Population

Grizzly Family

The grizzly bear population in the Knight Inlet area is healthy and growing. Grizzlies are frequently having triplets and this year there was a mother with four cubs. It is not unusually for one of the three cubs not to survive into its second year but for the past several years that has not been the norm. The number of grizzly bears in the area has increased so that the juvenile bears are moving down Knight Inlet and are becoming more common close to the Lodge. In the spring mothers with cubs are starting to appear in areas adjacent (ten minute boat ride) to Minstrel Island the location of the Grizzly Bear Lodge. This summer (2014) we had a large sub-adult grizzly on the island that took a week to scare off the island. Grizzlies are nice to visit on a tour but when the bear is in the front or back yard and guests are watching bears from the lodge deck that is taking grizzly watching to a new level. This mother and triplets are in the best location and are being viewed from the platform on the Glendale River, which flows into Knight Inlet.

 

 

Humpback Whale Lobtailing

lobtailing humpback

Lobtailing is when a whale lifts its fluke (tail fin) out of the water and brings it down forcefully to slap the surface of the water with a big splash and loud report. Humpback whales will frequently lobtail repeatedly for several minutes at a time. They can lobtail both dorsally and ventrally (right side up as this photo shows or upside down), sometimes stopping just long enough to take a breath before rolling over to continue on the other side. As more and more whales are spending their summers in our viewing area, often as many as twelve to sixteen different whales a trip, the lobtailing is becoming more common. This tends to support the belief that lobtailing is most likely a form of non-verbal communication, like breaching or pectoral fin slapping, and can be used to call attention to an individual, to impress a potential mate or intimidate a foe.

 

 

Grizzly Bears Doing?

Grizzly Bears in river estuary

The “Doing?” is because we do not know what they were doing. It was mid-September when most of the bears are up the river after the salmon and we had already been up to the viewing stands saw some bears. We had come back to the dock to have lunch and had time so we took the skiff up the Glendale River.  As the tide rose we came across Bella, her two cubs and the four-year-old siblings that are frequently in the area. They were in shallow water and as the tide came in they just stayed there and eventually swam to the far shore. No idea why and we had never seen this behaviour in the past.

 

 

 

 

 

Grizzly with cubs

Grizzly Bear and cubs

Early July and Bella is with last year cubs in the Glendale River estuary. This river is located an hour and fifteen-minute boat ride up Knight Inlet from Grizzly Bear Lodge. Once we arrive at the river we transfer to a 5.5 meter (yard) skiff so we can quietly approach the grizzlies bears in the shallow water. The quiet part is your guide in the water pulling the skiff. Providing we stay within the grizzlies comfort zone there is no problem and the bears ignore our intrusion. The problem tends to be that our guests comfort zone seems to be larger than the grizzlies comfort zone and I am often encouraged to move back.

 

Visiting Killer Whales

Killer Whales approaching

The resident salmon eating orca that we see on our whale watching / wildlife viewing trips are curious like all dolphins. If you are sitting quietly in your boat with the engine turned off they will approach and pass beneath the boat. The regulations or guidelines prohibit leap frogging, which is running ahead of the orca and moving to stop directly in front of a moving pod of killer whales. When your are whale watching form the lodge you are not limited to a 3.5 hour tour, rather a full day tour, the opportunity to be in a position to have the curious orca visit your boat increases dramatically.

 

 

Grizzly Bear Viewing Platform 2 of 2

Nursing grizzly bear

Yes this is the same grizzly from April 21st posting. This time we managed to get her without the triplets but it is still obvious that she is a nursing mother. Sitting where she is in the deeper water just in front of the viewing platform the cubs are on the bank about seven meters (yards) behind her back. At times it seems like she moves into the deeper water for a few minutes of quiet.