Tag Archives: grizzly bear watching

Thanks to all of our guests and staff for making 2025 a great success

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

Grizzly Bear Viewing Platforms

This is the Grizzly Bear viewing platform that we use from August 25 until the end of the season.  The maximum number of guests we are allowed to have in the platform is 5 and during our time it will only be guests from our lodge.  People have plenty of space to get some great views and photos of the bears as they look for salmon.  The viewing in this area is well managed, limiting the number of people and the times that we can view.  This allows guests to have great experiences viewing the bears, but also creates low stress levels for the bears as they go about their business.

 

Grizzly Bears Searching for Early Salmon

These two Grizzlies are investigating the shallow waters of the lower river, near the estuary.  Grizzly Bears have an exceptional sense of smell and when the first salmon begin to arrive they take notice.  The exact timing of the arrival of the Pink Salmon varies a bit year to year, but by August there are generally some fish heading up the river to spawn.

Grizzlies Snoozing

Guests often ask me what a bear does all day.  Well for the most part it is quite simple.  They eat, then they sleep, then they eat again.  Bears often have what are called day beds.  These are areas near their food source where they routinely curl up for a nap.  These bed areas move as the bears move in search of food.  These two sub-adult grizzlies are content to use the overhanging logs for a nap.

Extra Day Grizzly Viewing vs Platform Viewing

After August 25 we view the grizzly bears in Knight Inlet from elevated viewing platforms.  This is usually an extremely productive spot and because of the platforms guests are often able to get reasonably close to the bears.   On a 4 night trip we also explore another river system by truck and on foot.  We stick together as a group and with a little work and strategy are often able to find these familiar Grizzlies feeding along the river.  Platforms are great for viewing bears, but nothing compares with finding a bear on foot in a safe environment and viewing him at “his level”.  The first picture shows a bear on the extra day trip (taken by Felix Rome) and the second is a bear underneath the Knight Inlet viewing platform.

 

grizzly watching knight

 

 

Grizzly Bears are “Fussy Eaters”

The coastal grizzly bears rely on salmon to put on the pounds required for hibernation.  In the height on salmon season a adult Grizzly Bear can consume over 20,000 calories per day.  Early in the season the bears are not particular and will eat whatever they can catch or steal.  As the season progresses, however some of the better fed bears will become particular and selectively eat the best bits.  The roe (salmon eggs) are the most nutrient rich portion of the fish.  This bear is extracting the eggs and leaving the rest of the fish for hungrier bears or birds to finish up at a later time.

grizzly fish eggs

 

Still Evening Scene

This summer we were fortunate to have a photography student stay with us at the lodge.  He spent a lot of time at our wild river where we conduct our extra day trip.  He was Trapper Rick’s assistant helping him search for Grizzly Bears looking for salmon along the river.  Felix’s accommodation there may have been basic (just a tent), but he definitely had a million dollar view.  You can see some of his pics here felixrome.smugmug.com/ and we will be featuring many of them on the blog.

knight inlet
view of the sound