Around the World in 8000 days: A Glut of Grizzly Bears

Welcome to our travel blog. We are Tabitha and Nic. In 2011 we 'retired' in our early 40s and set off to travel the world. We spent our first year in South America and have been lucky enough to make two trips to Antarctica.

Our blog is a record of our travels, thoughts and experiences. It is not a guide book, but we do include some tips and information, so we hope that you may find it useful if you are planning to visit somewhere we have been. Or you may just find it interesting as a bit of armchair travel.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

A Glut of Grizzly Bears

Grizzly bears at Knight Inlet

We spent the night in one of the old houses in the Cove, and were up early in the morning for our trip with Tide Rip Grizzly Bear Tours. There were three boats going out, and we were on one with guides Nate and Matt, who kept us entertained and fed along the ninety-minute journey out to Knight Inlet.

We caught a glimpse of a few Dall’s Porpoise, and a Steller Sea Lion, just to get us started on our wildlife spotting.

Humpback whale at Knight Inlet

Just before we arrived, Nate stopped the boat, as he had spotted a humpback in the area. Sure enough, not long afterwards we heard the splash as it popped up out of the water, and we watched it for the short time it was up before, with a quick flash of its tail fluke, it dived back down again.

Grizzly bears at Knight Inlet

That little extra in the bag, we covered the last few minutes into the inlet where we transferred over to a skiff that would take us around the edge of the inlet to watch the bears. These skiffs are basically just a floating platform with some seats (that rarely got used), and a little upper platform for those that fancied a higher perspective. They have a really flat bottom, so that they can go close inland where the water is really shallow, and whilst they have a little motor for the bigger distances, the guys get togged up in waders, so that they can jump in the water and drag us around, keeping us as close as possible to the bears without disturbing them.

We knew that they generally do have the bears turn up here, to comb along the shoreline in search of a seafood meal, but still, as with all wildlife watching trips, you never really know what you are going to see. So we were thrilled to see our first glimpses of a bear with two year-old cubs on one side of the inlet.

Grizzly bears at Knight Inlet

We were momentarily disappointed when our guides took us off in the opposite direction, but that soon passed when we saw why. There was a bear with her little six-month old cub, and they were really close to the shoreline, giving us a great view of them. We watched these two for a while, happy to see that, while mum noted our presence, she clearly was not at all concerned about us being there. The guides did give mum a name, but I can’t remember what it was now.

Mum feeding cub, Grizzly bears at Knight Inlet

They foraged for a while, but then we were treated to something that showed just how comfortable mum was, when she sat down, and started to suckle the cub. Now this was fascinating - not so much seeing it, but hearing it. All the while the cub was suckling, it made this strange noise that I can best describe as a kind of rumbly whirring sound. Apparently, it is both an indication of happiness, and bit like a cat purring, and the vibration helps the milk to flow better. This really was one of those priceless moments in wildlife watching when you get to see something unexpected and amazing.

She finished feeding the cub and tried to go back to foraging, but the cub was hoping for a bit more and pestered her. She ignored him for a while, but then her patience ran out and she told the cub off. They carried on without further bother, and we watched them a little while longer, before leaving them to it, and going over to the other side to see the other bears.

Bearded Lady, Grizzly bears at Knight Inlet

By now, there were two sets of bears over on the other side, the mum (Bella) and her year-olds that we had glimpsed earlier, and the sister (Bearded Lady) of the one we had just been watching, with her two younger cubs.

We ended up watching the two sets intermittently, Bella, the older mum, was clearly feeling pretty lazy at the moment, largely just staying settled down next to a rock while her two cubs foraged nearby. The paler coloured cub is a male, and the darker a female.

Bella, Grizzly bears at Knight Inlet

Bearded lady, on the other hand, was definitely out to find food, and her little cubs stayed fairly close by, learning as they watched their mum turn over rocks to get to whatever morsels might be hiding beneath them.

As we watched, it soon became apparent that Bearded Lady was on a course to go straight past Bella. Now this is quite unusual, as grizzly bears generally like to maintain a bit of personal space, especially if they have cubs. It may be that they are all very used to each other being here, so some of the ‘rules’ are a bit more relaxed, but still, we wee interested to see how this would play out.

Bella may have been feeling lazy, but it wasn’t long before she noticed the other bear headed in her direction. Both cubs had returned to sit with mum, and the three of them looked on as Bearded Lady walked along the beach towards them. Bearded Lady meanwhile, walked on as if she didn’t even know Bella was there, although her cubs both had a few glances in her direction as they neared.

Bearded Lady passes Bella, Grizzly bears at Knight Inlet

It seems that, for whatever reason, Bella decided that she had nothing to be concerned about, and as they approached, she just lay back down, almost as if to say “Pah, you’re not worth bothering to get up for!” So Bearded Lady and her two, strolled past unhindered, and we were treated to the wonderful chance to get a photo with six bears in the frame.

Grizzly bears at Knight Inlet

By now it was time for our lunch, which we had on the skiff landing pier, in a spot where we could still keep an eye on the bears, albeit from a little further away, presumably so that they didn’t become tempted to try to help themselves to our meal.

Back out on the boats, we were soon in for another treat, when Bella – now feeling a bit more lively – decided to get into the water and make a meal of the barnacles that were clinging to the wooden posts. It was great to watch the three of them holding on to the posts as they fed, and we were able to get really close, as you can see from where the other skiff is on the other side.

Grizzly bears at Knight Inlet

Then we set off for the end of the inlet, where a whole cluster of bears had formed. We saw one bear and cub running across the width of the inlet.

Grizzly bears at Knight Inlet

Two others were hiding out in the long grass at the back, often with just their ears poking up visible. And we saw one go charging off into the tree line, we think in pursuit of a deer that we had seen running in there just beforehand.

Grizzly bears at Knight Inlet

And finally, we found a mum and her three cubs, that were probably two years old. Sadly I missed capturing the moment in a photo, but mum was sufficiently interested in the kerfuffle when the bear was chasing the deer, that she stood right up on her hind legs to take a better look.

We watched the bears for a little longer, but then it was time to say goodbye, and return to the boats for the journey back. We saw at least sixteen grizzlies today, which we were pretty impressed with.

Orcas at Telegraph Cove

But our day wasn’t over yet, we had one more encounter ahead. Nate and Matt managed to find us one of the orca pods, and they were putting on quite a show. I’ll talk more about orcas in the next post, but this was a great viewing, as whilst they didn’t come all that close, they did a lot of spy-hopping (poking their heads up out of the water), showing us their tail flukes, and one even treated us to a full breach or cartwheel.

I don't generally make recommendations about tour companies, as we can only base it on our one trip, and have no comparisons with other operators, but this trip was really excellent, so based on our experience, I would happily recommend them.

(There are more bear photos further down)