If stay the extra night at our lodge the extra day is a river day spent at a “wild” river on a wilderness tour. Crossing Knight Inlet we travel the length of Thompson Sound to the Kakweikan River and spend a day with The Trapper. Rick has spent a good part of his life on this river and protects it with a passion. Grizzly Bear Lodge is the only lodge in the area with access to this river. The scenery on this part of BC’s mainland in breathtaking and the wildlife viewing provides a reasonable chance of grizzly bear sightings. Bears are often seen below the falls at Rick’s cabin or on the road to the cabin. Seeing a grizzly bear at Rick’s is a different sensation than see one from a protected viewing stand on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. Maybe that is why Rick always has “Rosemarie” with him. Who is “Rosemarie” that you will have to ask Rick?
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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