Tag Archives: Grizzly Bears

The watercolour indicates that his photo was taken after a heavy ran.  The water in the entrance to the spawning channel on the Glendale River is normally clear and it is easy to see the salmon swimming but the rains bring runoff sediment to the river and poor visibility.  This does not seem to bother the grizzly bear’s ability to catch salmon as this bear sits and eats freshly caught pink salmon.

Grizzly bear tours from our lodge, until August 24, are along the shores of Knight Inlet especially in the estuary of the Glendale River. The tour leaves the lodge at 8:00 a.m. and travels up Knight Inlet looking for black bears, eagles and other marine “wildlife” such as dolphins, whales and orca. Upon arriving at the river estuary we transfer to a 17-foot flat bottom skiff which has a very shallow draft (of maybe six inches). This allows us to travel up the river and estuary where the bears are feeding sedge grass. It is not uncommon to have sub-adult grizzly bear siblings in the area. In the case of this photo they are trying to catch one of the first pink salmon which start arriving in the area in early August. It is easy to see that the tide is on the rise, which means the water is too deep for a successful catch.

The why of this grizzly bear’s style is that her front paw was damaged in a fight with another bear so she is unable to hold the salmon against a rock and balance to eat. She is an excellent fisher and catches all the salmon she can eat and is getting quite fat in preparing for hibernation. As time has progressed she has become very adept and developed her own fishing and eating methods and it is time that will determine if she heals over the winter and we see her back next year.

 The grizzly bear tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge spend two hours on the viewing stands in the Glendale River after the 24th of August.  While on the stands we are able to observe the grizzly bears feeding on both sides of the stands, the natural river and the holding pond, which is the entrance to the spawning, channel.  The holding area is a little deeper than the river and bears have developed their own technique for eating the salmon they catch. Some grizzlies take the salmon to shore and hold it against a rock to strip off the desired parts.  This bear has developed it’s own style which is it sit (“like in a bathtub”) and hold the salmon against its leg. Why? See tomorrow’s post.

Grizzly bear watching in the Glendale River estuary, which are an hour and a quarter’s boat ride up Knight Inlet from the Lodge, starts in late May and may last into October.  Although the viewing after August 24th normally takes place from the viewing stand up the river this does not mean there are not grizzly bears in the river mouth. If time permits after spending the allotted two hours in the stands, and the tide is right, a trip up the river may be productive. As the tide rises it is possible to travel up the river and view bears along the shore or in this case in the sedge grass. In the spring all viewing is in the estuary and is very productive with many mothers and cubs in the area.

The grizzly bear tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge travel up Knight Inlet to the viewing stands, which overlook the spawning channel on the Glendale River.  On either side of the stands we have the natural river and the entrance to the spawning channel.  Both of these contain thousands of salmon that are in the river to spawn.  It is this abundance of salmon that attract the grizzly bears to the area and many mothers and cubs come as the fishing and more important the catching is easy. Although they prime motivator is to fatten for the winter hibernation as this photo shows there is always time to play, especially for the cubs.

Grizzly bears will often sit in the pool on one side of the viewing stand used by Grizzly Bear Lodge and eat their meal.  It is a simple as reaching into the water and pulling up dead and wounded salmon that have drifted down the river. Others bears are actively fishing thirty or forty meters up stream in the shallower water but the easier methods are often to wait for the fish to come to you.