But on this day the male grizzly was not far behind. We left these bears and had our picnic lunch. Came back about an hour later and he has followed her into the estuary and was still giving her his undivided attention.
Tag Archives: Knight Inlet
Mate Grizzly Bears (3 of 5)
It was a hot day so she was enjoying the swim spending five minutes or more moving up and down the beach. She was not sure of the best way to escape the bear but seemed to enjoy the cooling water….more tomorrow.
June Grizzly and Cub
This was a good day with the bears. This is a common scene in the spring when mothers bring their cubs to the beach to feed. The run up Knight Inlet on the grizzly bear tour day to the Glendale River estuary is 40 km (26 m) and the last 5 km (3 m) is often referred to as the nursery. The mother grizzlies bring their cubs to this area to avoid the larger males in Glendale Cove. Remember grizzly mating season runs from May to early July and this places new cubs in danger.
September Viewing Platform
Click photo to enlarge then click again
This fat two-year-old cub came to visit beneath the viewing platform this past September. After August 24th the grizzly bear tours from the lodge use one of two viewing platforms located on Knight Inlets Glendale River. The bears in the area have come to accept our presence and as long as we avoid loud noises, flashes on cameras and sudden movement we are ignores. This does not mean that on occasion such as this a grizzly will not come and watch use for a while.
Wild River Day – 2 of 7
On the fifteen-minute walk to Rick’s cabin we spend some time on a decommissioned bridge (and that story you will have to hear from Rick) which provides views of the Kakweikan River. The first photo is looking up the river to the boat pool and the second down river to the bend where the cabin is located. Depending on the time of the year salmon will be spawning below the bridge while the bald eagles fly overhead.
Grizzly Bear watching on the Glendale River – 1 of 7
As mentioned in the February 5th posting the tour to the grizzly bears leaves the lodge at 7:30 or 8:00 and starts with an hour and quarter boat ride up Knight Inlet. During this ride your guide is constantly looking for bald eagles, black bears, pacific white-sided dolphins, orca and once you are closer to the Glendale River grizzly bears appear along the shore. In the spring and early summer the grizzly viewing is along the shore of the Glendale River estuary while after August 24th is from the viewing stands on the River. Upon arriving at the River mouth we tie to a large float and transfer to a skiff to go ashore for the ride up to the viewing stands or to use the skiff to view grizzlies along the shore or up the river. The skiff shown above is about 2.5 meters (8 ft.) wide and almost 6 meters (18 ft.) long and designed to have a very shallow draft to permit river travel at low tides.
For additional photos use the “Categories” “Grizzly Watching” on the right.
Third – TWO for one – grizzly bear and salmon
This could actually be a three for one photo. The unfortunate salmon in the grizzly bears mouth that will not live to spawn, the salmon coming over the small falls to the right and the third salmon behind the bears shoulder that is just clearing the water and coming up stream. The viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River are used after August 24th and provide great opportunities for interesting photos even if the interesting part is a result of chance. The guests always say one can never have too many photos to take home while the guides are trying to encourage them to put down the cameras for a few minutes and enjoy all the sights not just those seen through the camera lens. The stands are located so that the action is 360 degrees not just the small arc of the camera.
Black Bear pose
Fortunately this is not a permanent pose only a common position we often find bears using on our tours. At low tide bears come to the beach for food and that requires them to turn over rocks to get at the high protein crab, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. Rocks roll easier down hill so we often have a great view of their backside. This black bear like others will eventually move to another rock and prove more photogenic. The good aspect of this photo is that it shows we are not interrupting their feeding or disturbing their natural habits as the motto we tend to use as guides is “ Leave them as we find them.” Part is we want to be able to come back to the same area another day and not to have the bears run when we approach but the main reason is that it is good stewardship.
Mystic morning in Knight Inlet
I love running up Knight Inlet in the morning as every morning offers something special and this was one I really liked. The run up the inlet to where we watch the grizzly bears is just over an hour and this photo was taken at the start on the run and was special for two reasons. First that I like clouds and cloud formations especially with the dark cover and the sun starting to show through. Second that sun was shinning on the valley that contained the Glendale River which was our destination so I knew we had a great day ahead.
Grizzly bears watching and waiting
