Grizzly Bear Tours BC

If your first day is to the grizzlies we run up Knight Inlet for a little over an hour to Glendale Cove. Along the way hoping to see black bears, whitesided dolphins or other marine life. Prior to August 25^th all viewing is from the river estuary after the 25th we are permitted to proceed to the viewing stand about twenty minutes up the river.

As you can see the lodge accommodates ten guests. This “allows therefore very personal but professional care.” The mornings on the water can be cool so we recommend the “space suites” to keep you warm. They are also your “Personal Floatation Device” and need to be with you in the boat. Most days they are off before noon but that is a personal decision the grizzly bears, orca, humpback whales and other wildlife do not seem to care.

Dinner time. We pride ourselves on the good food. Soup or salad and then the maincourse. The staff shares the same table providing wildlife stories and hopefuly good conversation.

After the crab and before but maybe after supper we take a boat ride of approximately an hour to look for black bears on the beach. The “before or after supper” is because to see bears on the beach we must have a beach so it all depends on the height of the tide. No bears we may see eagles. Once you learn to spot their white heads they are a constant on the day trips.

First the lodge from the dock. Upon arrival you are shown your rooms and explained the use of night lights, hottub, etc. and then you start to eat. There is an abundance of good food at the lodge. Your first treat is fresh caught dungeness crab (or local prawns). This is to warm up for dinner in three or four hours.

The airplanes at the dock in Campbell River wait to be loaded with guests and luggage. Also the camp crew is unloading the plane at the dock of our lodge.

This is the story of four great guys, “the team consisting of the 4 Austrians Ingo, Sigurd, Walter and Heinz”. They say it best in their own words: “Please find below as required some fotos from our stay in your lodge in August this year. It gave us great moments and unique memories of a fantastic fauna in overwhelming nature.

I hope you can use it in your website and show it to guests who are interested what their stay in the lodge would be all about. We appreciated very much the whole setup, means the lodge, the trips, the food and all the care you and your team provided for us.

All in all it was a very successful choice to book your program and we can only highly recommend it to all who love to explore nature and stay in a lodge which is very small (only 8 guests at a time) and allows therefore very personal but professional care.

Thanks again for everything and best regards to everybody there.

The team consisting of the 4 Austrians Ingo, Sigurd, Walter and Heinz”

I will use the pictures to explain their stay in the lodge.

It is tempting but still no chase. The deer has the advantage in the open and a flat surface.

Although grizzly bears are omnivores the bears must determine the risk – gain of a chase. In the spring they are eating the sedge grass to keep up their energy and add a little weight until the fish arrive in August.  Click on the picture to enlarge.

That pod of pacific whitesided dolphin was very impressive. The pod was estimated to have about 300 dolphin. They were jumping and playing in the boat wake. Mike and Cristina  from Florida USA provided these photos and comments.

Lunch with the humpback whales was breathtaking and being able to hear their calls was amazing. The seallions  were trying to play with the whales but the whales did not seem to interested. Mike and Cristina  from Florida USA provided these photos and comments.

The stream was thick with salmon and we had a great day of grizzly bear watching. The loner grizzly we saw was selectively picking through the spawning salmon, feeding only on the salmon carrying eggs. Later we saw a momma grizzly playing in the stream with her cub. Mike and Cristina  from Florida USA provided these photos and comments.

However cubs to not mind the water if food is provided. This is an excellent photo of a mother sharing and an even better one of her claws.

First year cubs often lack the patients for fishing. They like to remain close to their mother for safety reasons but a rock is a good perch and a dry rock even a better one.

As the catching techniques vary so do the eating. For eating a lot depends how close the bears are to hibernating. The closer to hibernating the less selective they are – the whole fish head first is fine. At different times they will eat only the heads (high mineral content) or the eggs for fat.

When guests send you great photos that are self-explanatory it is often hard to comment but I always try. You must realize that all grizzly bears are not created equal in their “catching” even though all fish. However this is one of the better catchers. Some bears go a little further down stream (but still in camera range) and sit in the deeper water and pick off the leftovers from the fishers upstream. This has its advantages in that you to not expend much energy getting your meals. The method is not important only the end result – enough fat to hibernate.

Just because they are siblings and spend time together it does not mean “share and share alike”.

Grizzly siblings may stay together for several years after they leave their mother so it is not uncommon to see them fishing together.

Orcas spend July through October in the Johnston Strait that is approximately a 50-minute boat ride from the lodge. Most days your guide will manage to provide you with an opportunity for some good photos. Not only of Orca but also humpback whales, stellar sealions, eagles, seals and beautiful scenery. This is a great photo showing the saddle patch and dorsal fin markings that are used to identify individual orca.

That was good.