Tag Archives: Grizzly Bears

Interesting Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear lodge grizzly

This grizzly bear is enjoying the berries from a back berry patch. Now that is not too interesting until you notice the metal roof in the lower right corner of the photo. This is the roof of the smokehouse that is 5 meters (yards) from the back door of Grizzly Bear Lodge and that grizzly is in our black berry patch. This became a problem and it took close to a week of very alert guides and guests until we made enough noise and believe it or not threw enough rocks to scare the bear off our island. The bear population in Knight Inlet is growing so the bear are starting to move out the inlet and even crossing Johnstone Strait to Vancouver Island. In the spring it has become more common to view grizzlies on the larger island around the lodge. There have been grizzlies on the lodge’s Minstrel Island in the past few years but the island is small and they were gone after a day.

 

Grizzly Bear Aware

Grizzly Posing

As we stand in the viewing platform overlooking the entrance to the spawning channel the grizzly bears are often only 20 to 25 meters (yards) away from the camera lens. The bears have accepted our presence and although they generally ignore the stands at times they let us know they know. This bear spent several minutes glancing our direction that is why it is important to make sure flashes are turn off and there is not sudden movement or load noises. After all we are the guests and this is their home.

 

 

Grizzly Bears On Guard

Grizzlies in river

The grizzly bears of Knight Inlet’s Glendale River spend a great deal of time in the river estuary before the salmon arrive. In the spring and early summer they are feeding on sedge grass and turning over rocks along the shore to enhance their diet. When the first few salmon start to arrive in mid-August the bears are in the lower river that we are able to access with our flat bottom shallow draft skiff. These two grizzly bears seem to be on guard looking for the few salmon that are starting to enter the river. Back to back they have the full 360 degrees cover to make sure they spot any salmon trying to get up river.

 

 

Grizzly and cub 2 of 2

grizzly bear discipline

A little discipline became necessary, as this cub was too persistent and demanding. Although we had watched the cubs eating the mother was not ready to spend time playing and quickly put this one in it’s place so she could get back to the important task of fattening up for hibernation.

 

 

Grizzly and cub 1of 2

Grizzly Bear and cub

This grizzly bear mother had her paws full this summer as she had three cubs under her care. It was necessary to obtain enough food for herself and to be able to nurse the cubs. As the season progressed and the salmon came into the river in late August it became a little easier as the cubs were able to eat the salmon she provided and even to scavenge a few of the dead salmon along the shore. However as all “youngsters” with to much free time they want to play and this may not sit well with the parents as tomorrow’s post will show.

 

 

“A family that stay together” Grizzly Bears?

Grizzly Bear Siblings

These two sub-adult bears are likely in their fourth year and it is common to see grizzlies of this age together. Depending whether their mother became pregnant they may have stayed a second (even a third) year, denning together and breaking up in the third (or fourth) year. Alone and vulnerable, siblings will often stay together for some time after their mother abandons them, eating and sleeping side-by-side, and even denning together. The average breeding age for female grizzlies is 4.5 years. Males reach sexual maturity at roughly the same age as their female counterparts. Even though males are capable of breeding at three or four years of age, they rarely have the opportunity to do so because of intense competition from older, bigger males.

 

Wildlife Watching?

Batboat

Not all watching is wildlife watching.  This summer we were taken by surprise when this vessel showed up in our viewing area.  The guest I had on board became quite interested and took many photos.

“PORT ANGELES — Galeocerdo — which is the genus name of the tiger shark — came into the Port Angeles Boat Haven for a load of fuel on Friday afternoon.

The unique-looking vessel conjures images of the Batmobile or something out of “Star Wars.”

The 118-foot vessel was built of composite materials by Wally Yachts in Italy in 2003.

She is powered by three gas turbine Detroit Diesel engines that generate 16,800 horsepower, which will push the boat up to 60 knots (70 mph).

She also has two auxiliary Cummins diesel engines, each of which delivers 370 horsepower and are used for close-quarter maneuvering and cruising at the more comfortable speed of 9 knots.

I understand that Galeocerdo was most recently in Mexico’s Baja California state cruising in the Sea of Cortez and is on her way north to spend the balance of the summer season cruising in British Columbia. But you can read more about this unusual vessel — with photos of its layout inside — at http://www.superyachttimes.com/sale/details/327.” Taken from the Peninsula Daily News

 

 

Advantage – the grizzly bear mother

Grizzly Bear fish fight

Some first year grizzly bear cubs are able to catch salmon in shallow water. This summer (2014) due to the lack of rain and low water levels several thousand pink salmon suffocated in the warm water and this made it easy for the cubs to pick up dead salmon along the shore. Unfortunately for the cubs not all the salmon were in shallow water and this is where the advantage was for their mother. In this photo the mother is sitting on the bottom and the cubs are swimming. The mother is not prepared to share her catch and there is not much the cubs can do about that decision. The overhead photo is because we were in the raised viewing platform that is about eight feet (less than three meters) above the ground and the grizzly bears were close to the bank below.

 

 

Grizzly Bear cub ALERT

Grizzly cub standing

Photos and postings tend to relate to one another. This photo shows one of the triplets from the posting on January 29th. Another grizzly had appeared further up river and as the family moved down river this cub paused to get a better view of the grizzly up river. It did not spend too much time looking as mom soon called it closer.

 

 

Grizzly bears on the beach

Grizzly Ber beach feeding

As mentioned in yesterdays posting there is allot of protein to be found under the rocks on the beach. In the early spring until the salmon arrive in mid-August our grizzly bear tours observe bears on the beach as well as in the Glendale River estuary. In the estuary and along the shore the grizzlies graze on the protein rich sedge grass and turn over rocks the same as black bears. The only difference is that the rocks turned over by the grizzlies can be much larger.