The “North American Bear Center” website says “Brown bear (grizzly bear) claws are long and curved, ranging in color from yellow to brown. In rare cases grizzlies have been observed with white claws.” This seems rather mundane and clinical until you actually look carefully at this picture. Click on the picture to enlarge it and you will notice the size of the claws. A quote from the “Fish BC” website about the pink salmon this grizzly is holding is interesting. “Easily identified by the large browny spots on their tails, pink sport aquamarine dorsal surfaces, the tiniest bright silver scales in the ocean and an over-abundance of disease-preventing slime. Accordingly, commercial fishers call them “slimies”. And they are slimy indeed. The angler is cautioned to clean up the boat after each salmon or risk ending up in the water with the rest of them.” Slime or no slime this grizzly holds the salmon in one paw while she shares with her cub. Notice that the claw raps around the fish from both sides like a hand. If you stay in the lodge the extra day and travel to the wild river many of the grizzlies in that area have the white claws.
It is not uncommon to have a grizzly bear swimming in the waters of Knight Inlet’s Glendale Cove where we do most of our grizzly bear tours. It is less common to have them enter the water and swim toward the boat and then along the shore. On this day the closeness was for a reason as will be seen in tomorrow’s post….
