When you are in a boat surrounded by dolphins the best method for photograph taking is to point, shoot and hope. And some times the result is the “bucket list” photo.
Whale Watching
We’re not all about the bears, whales are abundant here too!
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.
Branded Steller Sea Lion
This Steller sea lion was branded at Forrester Island in Southeast Alaska that is the “F” in the brand. Branding occurs at several places along the west coast of North America as part of project to discover the reasons behind the mysterious disappearance of sea lions and what it could mean for the ocean ecosystem. Since 1980, the world population of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) has dropped from around 300,000 animals to fewer than 100,000, and it is still declining. Possible causes include increased incidence of parasites and disease, predation by killer whales, nutritional stress through competition with man or other species for food, or nutritional stress caused by natural and/ or human-induced changes in the abundance, quality and distribution of prey. Other factors that may be contributing to the population decline include meteorological changes (i.e., frequency of storms), pollution and toxic substances, entanglement in marine debris, and incidental and intentional take by man. Whether the decline is caused by a single factor or a combination of all of the above is a matter of scientific debate.
Killer Whales Resting 2 of 2
Unlike the grizzly is the previous posting killer whales do not get to stay in one place and enjoy the sun. The pod will form a tight group often a line if they are traveling, and their breathing and movements will synchronize. They take several breaths at the surface, and then submerge for a period of time before surfacing again. The time spent submerged increases as the “sleep” becomes deeper, and they may take up to ten breaths near the surface before submerging for as long as ten minutes. It the pod is in search of food it will spread into groups of two or three and this is when the hydrophone will pick up their calls as they communicate.
“Two For One” Bald Eagles
Bald eagles are sexually mature at four or five years of age and this is indicated by the fact they now have their white heads. When they are old enough to breed, they often return to the area where they were born. It is thought that bald eagles mate for life and thus when we are running along the shore on tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge if you see one eagle the other will be close. It is not very common to have them in the same tree as it narrows the area for fishing but is does give one a chance to determine which is the female. The female is the larger of a mated pair in this case I think the higher of the two but unless they are side by side on a branch it is hard to tell.
Excitment coming
If you have just taken a photo like the one above you know that the next photos will be allot more exciting as the orca / killer whales come closer. The whales watching guidelines specify that we must be 100 meters (yards) from the orca that is to prevent running to close along side the pods or leap frogging to get in front of a traveling pod of orca. However the orcas are not aware of the guidelines and will often turn and approach a boat that is sitting quietly. If you have scanned through the blog postings you will notice many photos of orca close to and even passing under your boat that does not mean it happens every tour but the percentages are high that your will get your “bucket list” photo.
Black Bear are shore bears
As I have said before “Black bears are where you find them” and they are found on all the trips that leave the Lodge. On grizzly bear tours running up Knight Inlet, whale watching safari to the Johnstone Strait or on the extra day to trapper Rick’s. Black bears are frequently along the shore searching for food. This bear was on an actual black bear tour we take on the evening that you arrive at the lodge. We travel through the local area for about an hour and a half looking for black bears, eagles, seals and other marine wildlife.
Curious 3 of 3
Even the mammals (including me) that are in my boat are curious. This occurred on one of the native “food fish” days. This commercial seiner had let out its net and was retrieving it when we pulled along side to watch. They use a large scoop net on a hoist that they lower into the water to bail the salmon from the larger seine net. This was ok for a food fish in that they got 7 or 8 scoops which is close to three hundred salmon but would have been poor if they were commercial or “money” fishing.
Curious 2 of 3
Yes that is the edge of the boat in the lower right corner of the photograph. And this is another curious mammal an orca or killer whale. The whale watching guidelines require that we stay 100 meters (yards) from the orca and we were until this female came over to the boat and swam around and under us several times. We were fortunate that the warden (whale watching police that enforces the guidelines) was not far from our boat at the time of the occurrence and had not just arrived to see it happen. We talked with the warden after and both agree that we must have stopped over a school of salmon and this orca was fishing.
Curious 1 of 3
Most marine wildlife is curious but the key is to be sitting / drifting quietly. This viewing area has a fast tidal current that allows us to drift past a number (25 to 150) Steller sealions at a haulout on a small rocky island. The many young sea lions in the water will come and play around and under the boat and given time will approach quite close.
Humpback Missing a Lunge?
A good photo of a humpback whale lunging up through a herring ball. The photo is good but the lunge appears less than successful. The water coming out of the mouth should not contain so many herring. The mouth should be closed and the water forced out through the baleen and trapping the herring inside. The number of whales in our viewing area has increase dramatically over the past five years so we often see more than a dozen different whales on each safari. So we are successful even if the whales are not.
