Day 3 - We could hardly "bear" it!

Days 3 & 4 have been all about bears – black bears & Spirit bears (also known as Kermode or white bears). We landed our zodiacs on the eastern side of Gribbell Island, climbing carefully up the rocky shoreline to a path that would take us deep into the Great Bear Rainforest. The walk to Riordan Creek was about 1.5km – an easy trail until the very end where there is a short, but very steep and deep 3 steps down. Sitting and then sliding down made this easier for those of us with short legs.

Our wooden stand complete with bench seats and a tarpaulin cover, overlooked the creek – a perfect place to be for the next 8 hours as we watched for bears coming to the creek to fish. In the deeper eddies, salmon were swirling and splashing around before exiting to do their best to swim upstream. Their innate requirement to do this is remarkable to watch – they are no longer eating, and the hormonal changes their bodies are going through, make them look old and haggard. Using every ounce of energy, they get into the faster moving water and swim upstream to reach the place they originally hatched in, so that they can spawn. There, or on their way, they’ll die a natural death or be eaten by a hungry bear, that is “feeding up” for the winter.

Within an hour, our first black bear came downstream – a beautiful animal. Shiny coat, big claws making walking easy on the slippery rocks and fallen trees covered in moss. He stopped to fish nearby – and missed – then found some discarded carcasses that were apparently delicious. Another male followed, and somewhat later we heard that there was a female with cubs coming from upstream towards us.

Soon we could clearly see her walking along a fallen log, with two cubs following along – no, wait – three cubs! The cubs were still small. Born earlier this year, they were about 8-9 months old, and unlike their mum they had not yet been habituated to seeing humans along the river. We are here in the second week of the eight week bear viewing “season” so seeing us will be still novel for the cubs.

The fallen log came straight towards our stand. The mother stepped down onto the ground – the cubs followed, jumping down. I’m sure we were all holding our breath as she led them under our stand. I was leaning out above them taking photos. Charlie, one of our group was sitting on the floor, her legs hanging over the edge - very still. Cub #3 came under, saw her feet, stopped and looked up … straight into my lens!

Then it moved on under the stand, and I quietly walked to our entry (a short ramp), just in time to see the mother sitting there, having a scratch before her three cubs joined her. They then all walked away up the path we’d used earlier. What a moment!

And so the day meandered on, with beautiful sightings of black bears. I have some nice photos of bears fishing, two male bears “encountering” each other – the larger always scaring away the smaller. But no Spirit bears to be seen this time – perhaps tomorrow on the other side of Gribbell Island.

A word about our safety. This area is controlled by members of the Git’ Gaat First Nations People. Over many years now, Marvin (who I met on my last visit) has ensured that the bears are habituated to people. While it seems strange to read this, it’s real. They are comfortable around us as long as we also follow the rules – speaking quietly, not leaving food behind, standing still if they’re nearby, not looking them in the eye, and if necessary speaking to them in the way we might speak to our dog in a calm voice: “Hi Bear, you’re doing fine, all’s well here.” No guns are carried, only bear spray (essentially chilies in an oil), and all guides are trained.

Believe me, it works … please read the next post!

Some of my photos from the Great Bear Rainforest can be seen at this LINK.