Second – TWO for one – orca coming
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.
First – TWO for one – humpback and sealions
Australia’s Gary Wilson waited for the perfect picture, a humpback whale in front of the Steller Sealion haul out area. In this case the sealions are on their return from Alaska to California and spending a few weeks resting and replacing some of the fat used to travel this far. Large groups of sealions pass through the area in the spring and fall, however we now have several dozen that spend the summer in our viewing area. The humpback whales arrive in June and remain in the area through October due to the abundance of herring, which is their main food. A beautiful fall day for this well timed rare picture.
Whales watching by Braille
Some of the mornings, until noon at the latest, provide your guide a reason to use their GPS. It is also fun to try and locate orca or humpback whales by sound. The whales by Braille routine requires allot of stopping and listening until a “tell tail” blow is heard from either an orca or a humpback whale it is then necessary to determine the direction of the sound and to move ion that direction. This is more of a challenge than one would think as the fog muffles the sound and makes determining direction interesting. The whales make this more difficult as they frequently change direction while the orca are at least a little more consistent in their movements. This low fog makes for a mystic picture and also shows why the morning that has fog clear up pretty fast.
Picnic lunch with class
Guests from France had a tradition of bringing a bottle of champagne to celebrate their vacation. Today was whale watching and our picnic had a little extra class, my job that morning was to make sure we had enough glass so we could drink with style and to make sure that both boats had lunch together and the rest was a surprise for everyone. The lodge’s picnic lunches whether whale watching or on a grizzly tour are always hits with the guests.
Active White-sided dolphins
Pacific white-sided dolphins are often encountered on tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge. Grizzly bear tours or whale watching safari each have an equal possibility of coming across a pod of dolphins. Dolphins are playful and enjoy riding the bow wave and the rear wake of the boat. The best advise is to point and shoot and take as many pictures as possible and maybe a dozen or so may even contain dolphins and not just water and one or two of those may be good pictures. The pods range in size from several dozen to over five hundred and the more there are its seems the more playful the dolphins.
How close is too close?
There is a marine regulation requiring boats to stay 100 meters from orca and this is enforced by Strait Watch and the Warden. This day we were lucky to be sitting quietly as the orca were passing in shore of our boat when a female turned and left the pod she was traveling with and swam around and beneath our boat. The lucky part was that Strait Watch was sitting about fifty meters from us so we had the best witness that we were not approaching the orca. Were we talking with them after the encounter and both agreed that the orca was likely fishing and approached our boat out of curiosity. The reason is not important the photos are what counts. Definitely a bonus day.
Eagle eye
A great bald eagle picture provided by Glen one of the lodge’s guides. Some guests manage to obtain good “diving” eagle pictures but Glen seems to have the edge. As is the case with most wildlife photography – “opportunity, opportunity, opportunity”. The more time one is able to spend taking picture the more likely that there will be a great one. I am not belittling Glen’s success, as that is his own philosophy. I keep say that it is only partially true one need an “eye” for composition and Glen definitely has the “eye”.
Pacific White-sides coming close
Pacific white-sided dolphins may be viewed on any of the tour days whether it is for grizzly bears, whale watching or on a trip to visit Trapper Rick on your extra day visiting Grizzly Bear Lodge. Vancouver Aquarium’s AquaFacts state “Pacific white-sided dolphins are present in First Nations middens dating back 2,000 years, but they were rare in B.C. during the 19th and 20th centuries. Starting in the 1980’s, Pacific white-sided dolphins started to become more abundant 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. In the entire North Pacific, there are estimated to be approximately 900,000 Pacific white-sided dolphins. 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.” As Lynn Morris’s photo indicates these dolphins are curious and if we are near a large pod they will come and play in the bow wake, if we stop they will swim beneath the boat.
Surf scoters departing
