Killer whales and humpback whales are often seen during our wildlife tours. There are resident whales and transient whales that can be seen feeding and playing in our waters.
Although bald eagle mate for life that does not mean they sit in the same tree together. While along the shore they are in hunting mode and in separate tree they cover a much larger area. A two for one eagle photo is not that common and the only thing that you can be sure about is that these two are a mating pair as eagle are very territorial.
This did not require the stopping of the boat for an interesting photo. This was from the front deck of Grizzly Bear Lodge one evening as we had an unusual moon rise. Yes many guests are photographing from dawn to dusk and are very happy in their task.
Unlike yesterdays post with the fog this has a much more dangerous look. It was a morning run up Knight Inlet to watch grizzly bears and as we turned Littleton Point to enter Knight’s we got quite a surprise. The water was calm without a breath of wind and in about fifteen minutes the sun broke through the clouds and the day turned out to be perfect but that fifteen minutes was a little unnerving.
I have learned over the many years of guiding for Grizzly Bear Lodge to view the area through the eyes of my guests and it never ceases to amaze me the number of times I have requests to stop for photos of scenery. It is important to note that there are a maximum of four guests per boat and on many trip you may have the guide to yourself. To stop for photos you do not need to consult ten or twenty other people you just say STOP and it happens. August frequently has a calm water and foggy start to the day but the fog is normally gone before noon.
Black bear cubs tend to stay close to their mother when they are walking the beach. If a noise startles them while we are watching from the boat they run to mother rather than up the beach for cover. They only go up the beach if the mother says and then it is into a tree. As the photo show they are almost synchronized with mother in their walking.
The largest of the dolphins and one of the world’s most powerful predators does like to play around boats as do the pacific white sides of yesterday’s post. It is not uncommon to have killer whales / orca come along side the boat if you happen to be stopped as a pod is fishing in the area. I am not sure if the salmon are schooling under the boat for safety but I know that I once had one large (10 plus kilo – 25 lbs) spring salmon try to hide under my boat when there were killer whales in the area. That is me leaning over the side of the boat taking the picture.
Whenever we are fortunate enough to come upon a large pod of pacific white sided dolphins I am not sure who has the most fun, my guests or the dolphins. The dolphins leap out of the water doing flips, ride the bow wave, follow along side the boat and nose up within a meter of the boat’s prop. While doing all this the guest get great shots of water, air and even some that contain dolphins. More than once I have had guest say that the dolphins make the day.
“The Steller Sea Lion Recovery Team recommended in 2000 that researchers begin branding and marking Steller sea lion pups throughout their range as a means to estimate vital population parameters in the future. Population parameters such as survival, age at first reproduction, and natality are important factors to understand population dynamics and gauge the health and stability of populations. Specific rookery sites were chosen to initiate these long term marking studies, both in the western and eastern stocks. For the eastern stock, three rookery sites were chosen in southeast Alaska (Forrester, Hazy and White Sisters) and 2 were chosen further south off southern Oregon and northern California (Rogue Reef and St. George Reef).” Patrick J. Gearin NOAA, AFSC, National marine Mammal Laboratory. Over the years we have seen sea lions with brands originating in both Alaska (Forrester) and California (Rouge Reef).
Steller sea lions inhabit our area all year however their number increase dramatically in the spring and fall when they are migrating between California and Alaska. A haul-out is a nice place to visit but the noise and smell can be overpowering so once all photos are taken we tend to move.
Not much to add on this photo except that again we were in the right place at the right time. In part due to the skill of the guide but as I often say “I would rather have luck than skill when photographing wildlife”.
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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