Tag Archives: Grizzly Bears

June 4th mentions the viewing stands we use. There are two stands on a Knight Inlet river. The first is located directly opposite the entrance to the man made spawning channel. If you take the time to go to to “Categories” and select “Wildlife Tour Itinerary” on the left side of this posting you will have an excellent aerial view of our viewing area. The metal weir in this photo is to maintain the water level for the spawning salmon. We normally use the second stand as it has a more natural setting as tomorrow’s post will show….

This grizzly bear was about two hundred meters (yards) from the loading ramp in yesterday’s post. It was not concerned as we moved slowly along the shore and made our way back to the dock for lunch. It was taking a break from chasing salmon on the river as the tide was to low and the salmon were just out of reach in the deeper pools. Once the tide rose some the bear was back on the river as the salmon were able to move up the river to the spawning areas.

We are permitted to use the grizzly bear viewing stands on the Glendale River after August 24th. Our viewing time is from 10:00 am to noon and after that we return to the float for a picnic lunch. Prior to this date the skiff is used to cruse the shore of Knight Inlet’s Glendale Cove and to go up the river itself. On this day we took a detour along the shore to view the grizzly in tomorrow’s posting….

These are all first year grizzly bear cubs however one in noticeably smaller. This photo was taken on a grizzly trip in early September but by the end of the month the small cub was no longer with it’s mother.

This grizzly bear was becoming annoyed with her second year cubs. She was in the holding pool directly below our viewing platform trying to catch salmon but the cubs were not giving her enough room to work. A couple of “growls” and the cubs moved off and mom was successful and able to share her catch.

These two first year grizzly cubs were taking their time as they walked the gravel bar next to the viewing stands we use on a Knight Inlet river. They had just crossed a small stream to get to the gravel bar and were not looking forward to what their mother had planned next…

This is the case when grizzly bears respect each others comfort zone. The head in the lower right corner belongs to a very large female which is not a threat to the mother and cubs but they still have their own fishing areas. The single grizzly dominated the better fishing area near the entrance to the spawning channel while the mother and cubs caught all the salmon they needed a little lower on the river. The abundance of salmon in this area means there is little need to fight and therefore less chance of an injury that could reduce the ability to catch salmon. It is all about fattening for hibernation and fighting is counter productive.

“The coat of an individual bear may change colour during the year, with the new coat in summer a dark rich brown, while the worn coat becomes tawny or reddish brown. The winter fur is thicker and coarser than the summer fur and appears shaggy. During summer the old inner fur and guard hairs are shed; by autumn there is a fully developed coat, with guard hairs about 10 cm long, underfur about 8 cm long.” This explains the coat on this bear which appears to be in transition form a summer to winter coat. In our grizzly viewing area we have notice that the coats will darken after the grizzlies have been feeding on the oil rich salmon.

It is after August 24th and we are watching grizzly bears from the viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. This mother with larger cubs than yesterday’s post is waiting for salmon to move into the shallow water. About 20 meters (yards) to this bear’s left is a school of several thousand salmon in a holding pool. The pool is two meters deep which makes it hard to catch the salmon so the grizzlies wait for them to move up the channel over the weir to the spawning area. The approach to the weir is shallow and a good place to fish.