Grizzly bears mate in the spring and their babies are born from January to March so it can live in its den for about four months during the coldest weather. The grizzly bear cubs of Knight Inlet first appear on the shore with their mothers in late May. This meas the cubs are three to four months old and will remain with their mothers or two or three years. Although still nursing this cub copies mother and will start on solid food.
Date on photo 9/3/2015 11:05 AM Sorry that today’s and the last three posting “Date on photos” are not in time sequence but it makes for a better flow in blogging. But it was an excellent day grizzly bear watching and I quite counting the number of bears when I reached twenty. This is the back side of the stands that face the natural river and the area from which most of the bears arrive to fish near the platforms.
Date on photo 9/3/2015 10:47 AM. This view is from the end of the platform that faces part of the natural river and the entrance to the pool containing all the salmon. Often bears that are walking up river reach the pool to find that it may contain a large male they do not wish to confront. They by pass the lower pool and walk under the platform to move further up the pool before entering the water again. And for some reason the guests do not mind.
Date on photo 9/3/2015 11:40 AM These grizzly bears are about nine meters (yards) below the front of the platform. If you have any kind of a telephoto lens you will be able to tell the colour of their eyes.
Date on photo 9/3/2015 11:20 AM View one is looking to the right toward the entrance to the spawning channel and the weir which maintains the water level. I count seven grizzlies. But then I know that there is one close to the river bank where the rocks and white water are just below the grizzly standing at the weir. Some of these are “binocular bears” but the ones in tomorrow’s post are not….
This is the viewing platform we use on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River after August 24th. It is a larger platform which has ample room for guests to move around and not be bumping into each other. Lots of room to set up a tripod and stable enough so there is no movement. Also covered so it is dry and also out of the sun on the hot days. The view from the stands will be in the next four posts….
Grizzly bear watching prior to August 25th is also on the Glendale River but it takes place from a flat bottom skiff that allows us to move through the river and its estuary in very shallow water. In this case a mother grizzly and her cub are walking the beach and turning over rocks in search of protein in the form of crabs, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. Note the photo is from eye level which is different that the downward view of viewing stand photographs.
This photo is the extreme of the point I want to make in this post. Grizzly bear watching after August 24th takes place from viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. All photographs will have a downward angle as we are higher than the bears. They are either in the water catching salmon, walking the shore or approaching the viewing stands or in this case directly below the stands.
Photo was taken August 27 and the grizzly bear is in the river waiting for the salmon. A little fatter than the bear in yesterdays post but still a long way from fat enough for hibernation. It is just the start of the salmon run so this mother and cub has two months to add the weight necessary for a successful hibernation. If you compare this photo with the post of August 16 it is another cub on a different rock trying to stay dry.
“Bears are omnivores that have relatively unspecialized digestive systems similar to those of carnivores. The primary difference is that bears have an elongated digestive tract, an adaptation that allows bears more efficient digestion of vegetation than other carnivores (Herrero 1985). Unlike ruminants, bears do not have a cecum and can only poorly digest the structural components of plants (Mealey 1975). To compensate for inefficient digestion of cellulose, bears maximize the quality of vegetal food items ingested, typically foraging for plants in phenological stages of highest nutrient availability and digestibility (Herrero 1985).” From Yellowstone
Just like that another season has come to an end. We are grateful for all the wonderful staff and the guests this season. It was an excellent season and we are already looking forward to next May.
One of the highlights of the season was all of the new cubs out. It was awesome to see so many new cubs of the year and that is great news for our bear populations moving forward. We had great spring viewing and this continued through summer. On our river trips we started to see salmon arriving in August and enjoyed some great shoulder season viewing. The fish at the viewing platforms were a little late showing up this year, but viewing during late September at the platforms was great and the estuary viewing remained strong throughout the season.
Out in the whale watching world it was another year that saw large numbers of resident Orca who remained in the area right into October. The Humpback viewing was also great with large numbers feeding in Blackfish Sound. It is so amazing to have these magnificent animals back in our waters in such numbers.
Over the winter and spring we will be doing some repairs and maintenance. We rebuilt the front deck last spring, utilising cedar cut on site. We will continue with some siding, rooms improvements and hopefully a floating sauna ready for the start of our season.
2026 is already looking like a very busy season for us. We only have limited high season availability so please book early to ensure we have space for your group.
Looking forward to seeing you next year
Angus Reid
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