Tag Archives: Grizzly Bears

A Grizzly story in Six parts 6 of 6

Grizzly carrying salmon

Soon the mother comes across the river and the young male retreats up the bank with its salmon. This is definitely a good move for our viewing as the bear in now about seven meters (yards) from our camera lens on the viewing platform. Moral of the story: “never mess with a mother grizzly with cubs” or “good photos are more often a result of luck than skill”.

 

 

A Grizzly story in Six parts 1 of 6

Grizzly and cubs

Our lodge, after August 24th, uses viewing platforms on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. On this day in mid-September a mother with two cubs were “sharing” a prime fishing area with two other grizzly bears. The mother was an aggressive bear but the cubs tended to stay back in a nook in the bank unless a salmon had been caught…

 

 

 

Transient Orca 1 of 2

Killer Whales

 

 

“Transient Orca are meat eaters and are frequently seen preying on seal, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises and even larger whales. Transient Orca seem to come and go. As their name implies, they are transient whales and just pass through. It is unclear as to their actual territory, if they even have one. These whales have been seen coming into the inside Strait of Georgia from the top end of Vancouver Island by Cape Scott and leaving at the bottom end by Victoria. Perhaps they circumnavigate Vancouver Island as well as meander back up or down our inside passages. They are routinely seen in the inside waters of BC.” Quote from: Whales and Dolphins BC / Wild Ocean Whale Society (WOWs)  a great site to visit to learn more about marine life on the Bc coast. More tomorrow…

Grizzly Bears Cubs work

Spring grizzly bear cubs

Grizzly bear watching prior to August 25th is along the shore of Knight Inlet, the Glendale River estuary and in the Glendale River. On these tours your are at eye level with the bears as they forage on the beach often with first year cubs. These cubs are may be only five months old and are much smaller than those in the previous day’s posting. But even at that age the cubs learn by copying their mother. This is an early season photo as you can see the fur that was rubbed of in the den has not had time to regrow.

 

 

 

Grizzly Bears Cubs wait

Grizzly cubs overlook river

 

 

 

Cubs sleep

About 35 meters (yards) from the viewing platform we use after August 24th a tree has fallen across a small channel in the river. This tree has become a pathway for the grizzly bears that do not want to get their feet wet. That means bear cubs because they tend to avoid the water if they can. They use the log to watch their mother as she fishes in the river below and if she is too slow in catching a salmon it is a good place to rest.

Guest comfort zone

Grizzly Bear charge

Not much of a close up but the story is great.  The guests are in a 5.5 meter (yard) skiff we use to watch grizzly bears on the Glendale River.  We were moving slowly up the river (slowly because the motor is off and you are being towed by your guide) and had stopped watch a bear that moved around the point behind the bear in the photo. To the right of the guest’s head is another channel off to the right and this bear came out of the channel chasing a salmon. In all the splashing water the bear lost the salmon about 15 meters (yards) from the boat. It stopped, looked at us and then walked over to the point and continued to fish. No one got a good photo but I learned about the guests “comfort zone” and backed a little ways down the river and thus the photo.