Tag Archives: Black Bears

Glendale River Grizzly

 

Grizzly Bear Fishing

The spring and early summer grizzly bear tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge take place on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River and in the river estuary. After an hour and fifteen minute boat ride up the inlet we transfer to a sixteen foot skiff which permits us to travel in the shallow water of the estuary and up the river at lower tides. As this photo shows the first sighting of a grizzly is normally from a distance and as the tide rises we are able to move closer. The next two posting of the pictures provided by Craig and Pat Brown from USA will show the improved viewing as the tide rises.

 

Running grizzly on the Glendale River- 3 of 3

Grizzly Bear Running

This grizzly took an interest in something at the waters edge and ran in that direction. I had to move the skiff to the opposite side of the river as it ran by the boat approximately ten meters of thirty feet way. This bear did not even look in our direction but ran into the water and started to swim back and forth along the shore of the bay. We still do not know what prompted this behaviour but the bear stayed there for about twenty minutes before moving further along the shore and we proceeded up river and saw several more grizzly bears.

Grizzly Bears – A nursing mom

Grizzly Bear Mother

The spring and early summer Grizzly Bear tours from our lodge on Minstrel Island find the bears along the shore of Knight Inlet.  The early spring grizzlies are not as fat as the fall bears and occasionally show sign of the time in the den.  Notice mom’s back and hind leg and the rubbed off fur.  It is also obvious that this is a nursing bear but the cubs learn at an early age to turn rocks and to supplement mom’s milk.  The tour leaves the lodge about 8:00 and we start looking for bears immediately.  Normally black bears for the first half of the boat ride and then grizzly bears once we are closer to the Glendale River estuary which is about 25 kilometers up the Knight Inlet from the lodge.

Grizzly Bear Viewing on the River

Grizzly Bears

As mentioned in yesterday’s post we do use a skiff to view bears on the Glendale River and in the river estuary. This photo is an example of me holding the boat against one side of the river while a mother grizzly bear and her two two-year old cubs walked down the other side. Needless to say the guests obtained some good photos and memories. One guest commented that he was close to the edge of “His comfort zone”. As shown by this picture the bears have NO interest in our presence as long as we do not block their progress down river. The key is to stay back out of the way and allow them free passage.

Good Fishing area for a Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear Eeating Salmon

This is the classic pose for a grizzly bear. The photo was taken from the viewing stands on the Glendale River in Knight Inlet BC. The late summer grizzly viewing, after August 24th, requires a short van ride (fifteen minutes) from a floating dock in the river estuary to the man made spawning channel. The grizzlies of the Knight Inlet area, which is on the southern edge of the Great Bear Rainforest come to this river to feed on the fall, run of spawning salmon. The day tours from our lodge on Minstrel Island use these viewing stands and often view more than a dozen different grizzly bears in the immediate area of the stands as well as grizzlies on the drive to the stands. If one looks closely in the water around the bear there are many salmon on their way to the spawning channel and the main reason the bears stay in this part of the river.

Grizzly Triplets on a June Tour

Grizzly Bear and cubs

Grizzly Bear Lodge opens in late May or early June depending on the bookings. The grizzlies do not depend on booking and start to appear along the shore of Knight Inlet by mid-May. On the grizzly bear watching day guest leave the lodge at 8:00 and have an hour and fifteen minute boat ride up the inlet to the Glendale River estuary. Any time in the last twenty minutes or so of the ride it is possible to see grizzlies on the shore and the first hour likely black bear. This photo of mother and triplets was taken in the river estuary and at this early age the cubs stay pretty close to mom.

Grizzly Mother and Cub

Mother Grizzy Bear

A mother grizzly and her cub visit the viewing stands used by the lodge after August 24th.  The grizzly bears come to the area in the fall because of the abundance of spawning salmon in the river. This abundance allows the bears to feed and gain sufficient weight (140 to 180 kg, 300 to 400 lbs) to last through hibernation. The spring viewing occurs in the river estuary of Knight Inlet’s Glendale Cove where the bears feed on the sedge grass and protein found along the shore. This mother and first-year cub spent the summer along the shore and have recently moved up the river to bulk up for the winter.

Black Bear in Grizzly Bear Territory

Balck BearBlack bears are normally on the beaches to turnover rocks. This inter-tidal zone “food” is high in protein and is made up of crab, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. The “beach food” is important because plant food is relatively scarce during spring and bears will continue to loose weight until well into June. Plant foods make up the majority of a bear’s diet (sometimes, as much as 90%). The black bears are kept from the salmon rivers by the grizzly so the beaches remain one of their main sources of protein all year. This bear is playing the acrobat by balancing on a log while scraping off barnacles and muscles.

 

 

About to swim between islands

Black bear on beachAs we came along the shore on one of the whale watching trips we came upon this black bear stand at the edge of a small channel between two islands. It was not turning rocks and as we waited it went back up the beach into the bush. One of our other boasts was a about ten minutes behind us and when they got to this same point the bear was in the water swimming between islands.  As in most wildlife viewing timing in important.

 

 

Evening black bear tour

Black BearSometime on the evening of the arrival day guest will go on a local wildlife tour. It may be before or after diner depending on the tide. The object of the tour is to find black bears on the beach and that means there needs to be a low tide to have a beach for the bears. It tour is an hour or so depending on the wildlife viewing. It allows the guest to become familiar with the guides and boats and to gain some experience of photographing from a boat.