Tag Archives: grizzly

Grizzly Searching for Protein 3 of 20

GRIZZLY BEAR FORAGING ON BEACH

 

 

Peder, Ann and family’s day with the grizzly bears requires an hour and fifteen minute boat ride up Knight Inlet to Glendale Cove. On the way we look for black bears, bald eagles and on occasion encounter humpback whales, killer whales or pacific whit-sided dolphins. Once we arrive in the river estuary we tie to a dock and transfer into a 5.5 meter (18 ft.) flat bottom skiff that permits us to move quietly along the shore and up the river as the tide rises. In July the bears forage the beach turning over rocks looking for “protein”. As tomorrow’s post shows grizzlies often have company…

 

Estuary grizzly bear watching 2 of 2

Grizzlies waiting for salmonWhen the tide is lower and the grizzly bears move out into the shallow river to look for salmon the grizzly bear watching tour gets much better. It is hard to catch salmon in a wide shallow river but it makes for good watching as they stand to observe and then run about trying to catch salmon.

Estuary grizzly bear watching 1 of 2

Grizzly grazing on sedge grass

From late May until August 24th our grizzly bear watching is in Knight Inlet and the Glendale River estuary. We travel the hour and fifteen minutes up the inlet from Grizzly Bear Lodge where we transfer to a large flat bottom skiff to view the bears. The skiff has a very shallow draft that allows us to move up the river as the tide rises and come quite close to the grizzlies as they graze on the protein rich sedge grass. On the day of this photo the tide was reasonable high when we arrived so we were able to get a good view of the grizzlies grazing but as the tide started to drop and we came out of the river the viewing got better. See tomorrow’s post…

 

 

 

Visiting Trapper Rick’s 2 of 5

salmon jumping falls

… salmon jumping the falls. Moving out of the shade, if there are no grizzly bears fishing in the river, one can go to the water edge and with patience get a photo of salmon jumping the falls. There is a fish ladder, which bypasses the falls, but many salmon prefer the traditional route.

 

 

 

Visiting Trapper Rick’s 1 of 5

Trapper Rick's watching grizzly bears

A day tour to Trapper Rick’s occurs when you book the extra day at the lodge. We cross Knight Inlet pass through Thompson Sound to the Kakweikan River and Trapper Rick’s cabin. The river is located on the BC mainland and we travel by road, cross a river by boat and a short level hike to Rick’s cabin. Once at the cabin we walk 200 meters (yards) down river to sit and observe….

Grizzly Bear’s Waiting 3 of 3

juvenile grizzlies fighting

These two juvenile grizzlies were tired of waiting so they thought that maybe if they had a fight is might attract the salmon? It seems that our guests did not care why the activity was changing just that it was changing and that it made for much better photo opportunities.

Grizzly Bear’s Waiting 2 of 3

grizzly with tree backrest

A second year grizzly bear cub’s preferences is to wait closer to our viewing platform and use a tree for a backrest. It leaves the catching to mom however it should get into the action as it is likely that it will have to be doing the catching next year. This is the learning year so maybe less sitting. Tomorrow boredom….

Grizzly Bear’s Waiting 1 of 3

grizzly wait for salmon

An adult grizzly bear on the river near our viewing platform waits patiently for the salmon to move up river within catching distance of her position. Patience is rewarded and she has a family to feed. However this is not always the case, tomorrow….

Grizzlies Just Waiting or? 1 of 2

grizzly cubs grazing

A mother grizzly bear with first year cubs will not take her cubs into the water to wait for salmon to arrive. Rather she will be content to graze on the sedge grass and once the salmon are in the river and easier to catch she will fish. While she fishes the cubs wait close by on the bank until the fish are brought to them.

Grizzlies Just Waiting or? 1 of 2

grizzly bears waiting

It is late August and a grizzly bear and cub in Knight Inlet’s Glendale River wait for the tide to rise and bring in another school of salmon. The salmon school in the bay and with higher water they move up the river to the spawning areas. We are in our viewing boat also waiting for the salmon and the excitement of watching grizzlies fish.