About 35 meters (yards) from the viewing platform we use after August 24th a tree has fallen across a small channel in the river. This tree has become a pathway for the grizzly bears that do not want to get their feet wet. That means bear cubs because they tend to avoid the water if they can. They use the log to watch their mother as she fishes in the river below and if she is too slow in catching a salmon it is a good place to rest.
Over the past five years humpback whales have become more common in the area Grizzly Bear Lodge visits on whale watching days. The area close to Johnstone Straits between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia has become the summer home of more than twenty-five whales. The area has an abundant supply of herring and the whales come to feed and stay within our viewing area for a few days before moving in and out of nearby inlets. The whales start appearing in late May and there are whales all summer some days on six or eight but most days more than a dozen whales are lunge feeding and lobtailing in our viewing area. By the size of the pectoral fin it is clear that this is one of the calves that frequent and play in our viewing area.
