Late September on a grizzly bear tour from the lodge and we are in the first viewing platform overlooking the entrance to the spawning channel. A grizzly bear has just passed beneath the stand and is walking down the road toward the second or finger stand. We normally use the finger stand as it offers views of the natural river as well as the spawning channel entrance. Grizzlies frequently walk along the road when there are bears fishing in the channel entrance.
All three cubs are now awake and the tide is starting to rise. The mother grizzly bear starts up the beach to the mouth of the river and the flat land estuary, which provides for protection in the taller grass. The river estuary also has easier access to the surrounding forest with its tall trees if the cubs need to escape a large male bear. Yes grizzly cubs can climb trees while the large males cannot.
Yesterday’s post showed grizzly cubs sleeping in the sunshine on a warm rock. Mother was always close by but it took us a few minutes of watching her to locate the cubs. It was a rare time for the mother to be able to obtain a meal without being on high alert for the active cubs. That has now come to an end as one cub is up and starting to graze…..more tomorrow
The spring grizzly bear tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge travel up Knight Inlet to the Glendale River estuary is search of mother grizzlies and their cubs. They come out of hibernation in late March or April and bring their cubs to the beach and river estuaries in search of food. Turning over rocks in the inter-tidal zone for high protein food made up of crab, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. They also graze on the protein rich sedge grasses…..more tomorrow
The end of September and the grizzlies are looking ready for hibernation. They have added the necessary body fat to survive the winter but are still coming to the area of the viewing stands for another meal. The fat bears are selective in what they eat, mostly eggs and belly fat while other are after the whole salmon. This grizzly was one of the selective feeders and more interested in a viewing platform of clicking cameras than food. Glen, one of our guides, provided this photo.
Early September on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River and two great photos taken from the viewing platform overlooking the entrance to the spawning channel. A lonely looking eight month old grizzly cub looking for its mother and two minutes later the mother comes to check that everything is OK. Not much else to say!
These grizzly siblings are in the natural river next to the finger viewing stand use by the lodge when on the fall grizzly bear tours in Knight Inlet BC. Siblings will often stay together for several years after leaving their mother and form a close bond. They are on the beach in the spring turning over rocks and fish the river in the fall. As shown they keep an eye on other bears in the area and use the fact that they are “two” to intimidate other bears of a similar age.
Grizzly Bear Lodge is on Minstrel Island BC and on the southern edge of the Broughton Archipelago. This is an area of many islands varying in size from small (100 square meters / yards) to large (100 square km /miles) and therefore many passages that need to be swum when black bears want to move from island to island. The current estimate of the black bear population in British Columbia is 120,000–160,000. This is about one quarter of all black bears in Canada. Its natural range includes Vancouver Island and most coastal islands to the north. This means that a swimming black bear is common rather than rare. This appears to be a healthy bear with a good layer of fat as shown by how high it’s body is out of the water. In the early spring often all that is visible is their head.
All three cubs are now awake and the tide is starting to rise. The mother grizzly bear starts up the beach to the mouth of the river and the flat land estuary, which provides for protection in the taller grass. The river estuary also has easier access to the surrounding forest with its tall trees if the cubs need to escape a large male bear. Yes grizzly cubs can climb trees while the large males cannot.
The photo of this large male grizzly bear was taken on October 10 that is close to the last day of Grizzly Bear Lodges viewing season. It is interesting for the guides who have the pleasure of spending their summers with the bears to see how they change over the viewing season of late May through to mid October. British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection states: “In British Columbia, spring weights of adult Grizzly Bears
average around 220 kg (480 lb.) for males and 130 kg (290 lb.) for females. Average fall weights are about 30 to 40 percent more.” This bear would be larger than the average.
Just like that our season has come to an end. I would like to thank all of our wonderful guests and staff who made this year a huge success. I am happy to stay that all of our team is planning to return next season. We are actively taking bookings, with dates starting June 1 2025. Hope to see many of you next season.
The wildlife viewing this season was awesome. A couple highlights that come to mind was the shear number of salmon in our local rivers, as well as the abundance of Resident Orca. With salmon returns being so strong this year, we were happy to see bears in excellent condition. By the end of our season most of the bears had packed on a lot of weight and were getting very “picky” about what parts of the salmon they would eat. Hopefully this will translate into more cubs being born this winter. Another positive was the weather conditions. We had enough rain to keep our fire risks low and it made for some excellent wild berries. The bears took full advantage of this, with the berry season extending far past its normal conclusion. This did mean that we had to work hard to find bears during our summer season, (as they were often feeding on the berries deep into the forest), but moving forward it is excellent that they had such an abundant food supply. The Humpbacks also didn’t disappoint, with great numbers and a few new calves returning with their mothers to feed. After a slower year for resident Orca sightings, this season was one of the best that I can remember. In fact as Im writing this the A62 and A23’s are still being spotted in the area by dedicated biologists. Strong numbers of Chinook and Chum salmon are providing them with a steady food source. There are a lot of positive signs and we are hopeful that 2025 will be another great season.
Over the winter and spring we will be doing some repairs and maintenance. We plan on having a new cedar front deck built in time for the 2025 season, as well as new ceilings and paint in parts of the lodge and rooms. Theres always projects on the go.
Felix, Julien, Ryan, Zack and Myself all look forward to welcoming guest in June. See everyone soon.
Angus Reid
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