On a crisp and cloudy morning along B.C.’s rugged West
Coast, Bella takes her two young scruffy cubs out for breakfast.
Casually strolling along the rocky shoreline surrounding the
remote waters of Knight Inlet, the trio of grizzly bears flips over rocks in
search of shellfish while eagles soar overhead. This is nature at its finest —
wild and undisturbed, aside from the 12 people bobbing around on a covered
aluminum boat only a few metres away, gazing in wonder at the wildlife in front
of them.
“They get used to people coming and watching them. We’ve
made a big effort not to condition them to human food,” said 72-year-old Howard
Pattison, owner of Tiderip Grizzly Bear Tours, which has been running day trips
from Vancouver Island’s Telegraph Cove to Knight Inlet for 16 years.
“The female bears with cubs get used to using the boats as
defence so they don’t mind us there because they know the big males won’t come
out of the bush to eat the cubs. We’re starting to see more males around
though, which could lead to problems because they did attack Bella and killed
one of her cubs. That’s never happened before.”
Located 50 kilometres from the mouth of Knight Inlet,
Glendale Cove is known for its high concentration of grizzly bears, attracting
international tourists and film companies eager to capture and experience the
thrill of witnessing the animals in the wild.
But it wasn’t always this way. When Pattison went to
Glendale Cove as a kid, nobody ever mentioned the grizzlies because the salmon
populations weren’t there. But things have changed things dramatically over the
years thanks to federal salmon enhancement programs, and now the cove, which
has an estuary running into it, has everything a bear could ever want for a
feast.
I first heard about the grizzly bears of Knight Inlet when I
moved to Victoria from Edmonton two years ago. I’ve always feared running into
one while hiking in the Rocky Mountains, but the thought of seeing a grizzly
from the safety of a boat sent waves of excitement rippling through my body.
Now here I was, cruising on a boat at 7 a.m. through an
endless string of small-forested islands in the Indian Channel, which was once
teaming with First Nations communities. Two hours later we arrive at our
destination about halfway into the 125-km long Knight Inlet — a remote, wild
place fringed by snow-capped mountains, the lush Great Bear Rainforest,
waterfalls, glaciers, emerald-blue water, and an abundance of wildlife. The
only way to get here is by boat or float plane.
Our group quickly transfers onto a large, flat bottom skiff
suited for wildlife viewing in shallow estuaries. A young female grizzly is
there upon our arrival, flipping rocks on the beach and casually strolls in our
direction.
Provincial guidelines require viewers stay 50 metres from
the bears, but the bears don’t recognize this rule. Mesmerized by what we’re
witnessing, we stay quiet, the only movement is my finger on the camera shutter
as the bear passes by without batting an eye at our presence. I can’t help but
question, am I really seeing this?
Soon our guides spot another female grizzly further down the
shore, foraging amongst the fresh sedge grass in the protected waters. Then
there’s another bear with two young cubs flipping rocks in search of food.
Seeing them on a regular basis, our guides know most of the bears, along with
their habits, personalities and the way they interact with each another. Some
bears are better left alone.
The bears can weigh up to 800 pounds and play a key role in
maintaining a healthy ecosystem by distributing salmon nutrients into the
forests and transporting seeds through their feces. According to the B.C.
government, approximately 15,000 grizzly bears live in the province — about a
quarter of the entire North American population. Nine of B.C.’s 56 existing
grizzly bear populations are classified as threatened. Their greatest threat is
the cumulative effects of human development.
By the time we leave Knight Inlet, I’ve seen 10 grizzly
bears eating, swimming or strolling along the shore in search of food. It’s an
intimate experience that leaves me feeling deeply connected to nature and gives
me a new appreciation for these formidable animals.
“We often have people crying about what they’ve seen that
day. They fall in love with life again. You can tell they are really moved by
it,” said Pattison, who began running the tours after a German tourist insisted
he see a grizzly bear in the wild.
“He took a video of the bear and said this is why I came to
Canada. We’re showing the magical moments in nature. There’s places on Earth
that are still natural and beautiful.”
If you go:
Telegraph Cove is located approximately two hours north of
the small city of Campbell River, which is known as the salmon capital of the
world. North of Telegraph Cove are the small fishing and logging towns of Port
McNeill and Port Hardy, which is the launching point for travellers taking the
ferry to the handful of remote communities on the mid and northern coasts of
B.C. The ocean off the north coast comes alive in the fall when the water is
bombarded with humpback whales readying for their winter migration to Hawaii.
For more information on bear tours visit tiderip.com.
– Published by the Halifax Chronicle Herald in September 2017
