This is a scene of peace and serenity, the was picture taken by guest Debbie Zygmunt from the dock in the estuary of the Glendale River on Knight Inlet. The grizzly bear tours leaving Grizzly Bear Lodge travel for about an hour up Knight Inlet to the Glendale. We spend the morning and part of the afternoon viewing grizzly bears in the estuary in the spring or on the river in the fall after the pink salmon have arrived. A picnic lunch is served on the dock each tour at mid day. The pilings in the picture are located near the end of the dock supported the original landing for a logging camp the was on the shore up until the nineteen fifties. The shore opposite the dock has similar pilings from a salmon cannery that operated in the nineteen twenties.
Sea Otter Sightings

The last 3 years we have been starting to view sea otters in our area more regularly. They are still often a distance away, but the sightings are increasing with some “rafts” of them developing in areas near the western portion of our whale watching trips. These animals were hunted heavily for their fur and were completely wiped out of British Columbia waters. Re-introduction occurred from Alaskan otters in the 1960’s. They have long been protected and their numbers have been steadily increasing along the exposed BC coast and are now moving back into inside waters. They are unique in that they don’t have the insulating blubber that other marine mammals use to keep warm. As a result they have dense (over 1 million hairs per square inch) fur and feed heavily. They are important in balancing the eco-system. They eat a lot of sea urchins, which eat a lot of kelp. Kelp is extremely important as it provides cover for juvenile fish and is where the herring spawn in the early spring. With the increase in these otters we are seeing a greater abundance and healthier kelp forests.
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