Vancouver Island delivers WILDlife thrills!
Bucket list trip completed? ... I should jolly well say so!
Our 40th wedding anniversary year has been full of some really great trips, with our most recent adventure to discover Canada's west coast and Vancouver Island and the spectacular wildlife to be found there, a real highlight.
Holidays don't always feature significant wildlife photography opportunities, although some do and this one certainly did!
This trip featured some great urban locations, tremendous wild landscapes, amazing food, beautiful beach walks and of course ... some stunning wildlife encounters, which will be the focus of this blog post.
Our plan was to see the best of what British Columbia and Vancouver Island in particular, could offer on foot, by boat and from the air.
We had many chances to learn more about First Nation diverse history and culture, which added welcome context for every location and for the time spent in their beautiful ancestral homelands.
Where to start then?
I guess Bears represented the anticipated highlight. Both Sarah and I were yet to see or photograph Bears in the wild; we looked forward to an exciting few weeks and we definitely weren't to be disappointed!
So ... Bears to come, but first the ocean!
A few days in Vancouver itself, including some amazing food and a great bike tour around the city and Stanley Park warmed us up nicely for a ferry across to Vancouver Island. Victoria was our first stop and and first chance to get out on a fast rib boat to see marine mammals doing their thing.
Looking very stylish in our flotation safety suits, we set off on an half day pursuit of Orcas, Humpbacks and anything else that we could find.
The benefit of a fast boat is that it gives you the best chance of covering distance quickly, when searching for wildlife that doesn't submit its intended daily locations on a sheet, at the start of the day.
Fortunately, populations of resident Orcas around Vancouver Island are healthy and it wasn't too long before we slowed to a stop, delivering a wildlife 'first' sighting of 'Killer Whales' for this excited viewer.
The family pod of Orcas were marauding along the shoreline, hoping to find a careless Harbour Seal not paying sufficient attention to the danger swimming towards them. Focused on their purposeful hunt, the pod soon strayed into a narrow inlet, too small to allow pursuit within the strict rules applied by all watchers following their progress.
Off we headed then, along the south western shore of the island, to try and find Humpbacks, reportedly seen in that direction the day before.
After many eye watering nautical kms and at a decent rate of knots, we found a group of whales right at the edge of some bad weather; the eerie light with shower clouds behind, made for a quiet drama of whale breathing and boat passengers gasping, as their flukes rose and fell in the gentle swell.
Not the exuberant drama of breaches off Monterey - different location, different season, different activity (feeding not breeding), but hugely impactful nonetheless.
An unexpected sighting before we left Victoria was delivered on the walk back to the hotel, after dinner. Cresting a hill near our hotel under clear skies, we caught sight of the lunar eclipse with, on this occasion, unintentionally perfect timing!
A quick dash back to the hotel for the camera, a hurried fiddle with settings and a hopeful point and shoot hand held, rather than with the tripod you would normally use ... and here we are - a blood red moon in a near total eclipse.
Next stop was beautiful Tofino and a wonderful hotel at one end of the beautiful Chesterton Beach!
Our first walk on the beach was barely a dozen steps long, when I caught sight of an Osprey with its catch taking evasive action from another smaller bird of prey (glimpse too brief to be sure of species). Did I have camera in hand? ... well no!
It was great to see an Osprey crashing into the surf and rising with its catch on a subsequent afternoon beach stroll, (camera to hand this time).
Not a focused photography stop, (see what I did there?), it was nonetheless great to see some interesting birds both on the shoreline and in and around the surf.
I missed the chance to grab a shot of some distant Pacific Divers, but did recognise a lone Surf Scoter doing its thing in the surf! Handsome bird, delighted to capture its presence, no idea at the time that it would be a long (very long) way from the only one of its species I would see on this trip!
A 'raft' of hundreds of Surf Scoters seen later in the holiday
Tofino also gave us an opportunity for our second boat trip, this time targeting sightings of Bears!
So it was, that another floatation device was donned and with handrail and camera grabbed hard, we raced of around the inlets reaching into otherwise inaccessible corners of rainforest shoreline, hoping to see ... Black Bears!
A quick stop on route to catch a view of a mature Bald Eagle, eyeing the swirling currents for a meal on the way ...
... and then suddenly .... we were floating slowly towards a shoreline and our first Bear!
Wow!
Hard to describe seeing a new animal for the first time - the difference between a TV nature programme and your own eyes and ears (and nose!) is significant .... with knobs on!
The strength of these creatures is truly impressive. Big heavy rocks were turned over on a search for crabs and molluscs with a single paw stroke, as if barely there.
A great morning - really exciting and a tremendous appetiser for the Bear Lodge visit that was to come, more of which to follow shortly.
We bade a fond farewell to Tofino and the Pacific Rim coast and headed back across the island via spectacular scenery to eventually land at Campbell River for a couple nights, before heading to the Bear Lodge .... just time then for another climb into more safety kit and an 8 hour boat trip! Ahoy!
More flukes and humpback breaths: at one point our guide estimated that there was 10-15 individual whales around our small boat - amazing stillness on calm waters, punctuated by a fellow mammal family doing their thing on the border between air and sea - magical!
And so the time finally came to set off for our 3 night stay at Knight Inlet Bear Lodge. Accessible only by sea (float) plane and so remote that mobile signal and WiFi were completely unavailable, - a welcome 3 day digital detox ahead, we 'landed' on the glacial water and were instantly in love with the place!
The salmon run has been overwhelmingly abundant this year, so chances to see Grizzly Bears were most likely on the rivers rather than on the shoreline and we embarked on our first trips full of excitement.
If 10 years of wildlife photography have taught me anything at all, it is to expect the unexpected and so often, to not be disappointed, if the hoped for encounters don't happen at all.
Our first two sessions drew a Bear blank 😢
Amazing hospitality, great food and friendly service softened the blow and hopes remained high for day 2.
The choice was another long day on a boat searching for marine mammals, or .... stay and hope for Bears. Sarah must take full credit for calling the right choice .... Bears!
Each venture onto land where humans are the guests not the residents, were subject to a careful briefing on how to behave should we encounter a Bear ... mainly to ensure their safety and to minimise disruption, but obviously also for our own safety when faced with a well equipped 600kg predator the same size as Sarah's Mini Cooper ... gulp!
A trip via boat, slow moving vehicle transfer and a cautious pedestrian approach, saw us arrive (quietly) at a wooden 'stand' from where we could observe a weir across a salmon run river.
Within seconds we could see that we weren't alone as only a few metres away, a huge Grizzly mother and her cub, were concentrating on catching lunch!
You can imagine the thrill - and so began the most incredible couple of hours!
Late summer into autumn is a time when the Bears feed hungrily and with purpose, as winter approaches. Their focus on the task is evident in their behaviour, with any (very still and quiet) human observers barely registered as they went about their pursuit of the pink salmon, swarming up the spawning channels.
We were so focused on this amazing sight that it took a gentle tap on the shoulder from our guide to get us to look to the other side of the stand, where we could see .... another Mother Grizzly and her two, two year old cubs!!
Not knowing which way to look is a rare wildlife watching experience, but there we were in silent astonishment!
The Mother Grizzly looked healthy but exhausted and took some time to get some rest, whilst the two boisterous male cubs played rough and tumble for over half an hour, while we watched (and took a few photos of course!)
Amazing, thrilling, joyful and leaving us with a profound sense of gratitude that we were able to watch these incredibly beautiful and impressive creatures, at such close quarters.
Far too soon, it was time to quietly withdraw and to leave the Bears to their business.
Days were split into four sessions with Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner intersecting deliciously!
Not every minute was spent staring at Bears, as expert and fascinating guides hosted informative visits to the rainforest to track the bears, tell their story and to delight natural world and science obsessed couples like us!
Perhaps the most notable highlight of these outings was a guided walk in the rainforest, once occupied by First Nation families, who lived in close harmony with both the flora and fauna that sustained their presence.
Transported to the trailhead from the floating lodge via boat, we embarked on a cautious but fascinating walk through the forest, stopping to study the very flora and fauna that brought the place to life.
There was plenty of "Hey Bear" calling, to ensure we didn't take any huge resident by surprise and all went well on the walk to a waterfall where we watched Salmon leaping upstream.
A quick coffee and a cookie further up that beautiful river and we were ready to return.
The walk back to the boat was slightly more eventful, as along a path with dense cover each side, our lead guide called for a stop, stillness, calm and silence.
Less than 10 metres to our left, a huge lone Grizzly (assumed to be a male as a result) rumbled through the undergrowth towards the river.
Everyone behaved impeccably, albeit I'm sure most peoples hearts were beating faster!
I managed to spot the Bear before we moved along, a mere handful of steps away in the river, looking unstressed and focused on catching a fish!
I had secretly (ok not so secretly), hoped for a close encounter to feel that visceral thrill and was NOT disappointed therefore with the surge of elation, wonder and the sense of connection with the WILD world that this encounter engendered.
Our guide Paul, a man of some 30 years experience and a Bear specialist, observed that the unique musky smell of Bear we all experienced (with some pretty fishy top-notes) was something he had only experienced a handful of times - that's how close that Bear was!!!
Boy, did we have a story to tell to our fellow adventurers that evening over Dinner!
There was always more to see at each session, Bears included and eventually ... we flew back on a misty Island morning leaving the isolated wildlife behind .... happy, sad, will be back one day!
PS - did I mention that one morning we all rushed out from the dining room to watch a Humpback diving only a few metres from our bedroom?
Sea (float) plane back to Campbell River, drive to Nanaimo, Ferry to just North of Vancouver then drive up to Whistler for a few day R&R - no drama expected .... er, strike that!
A walk around Green Lake - a glacial lake under Whistler mountain, promised a gentle stroll along the Valley Trail followed by, you guessed it ... some great food.
The thing to remember about BC, is that you are always on the edge of true WILDerness and the borders between human and wild world, blur ... all the time.
I'd taken my small zoom telephoto lens and camera out of my 'just in case' backpack, to take some shots of Mergansers (cool waterfowl) on the Lake.
We followed the trail to a point where a noticeboard advised us that Ospreys nested nearby in the spring. I thought the slightly flattened waterside bank grasses looked like the 'day-beds' we had been shown way out in the wilderness of Knights Inlet.
"Look", I said to Sarah, "that looks just like a Bear's day-bed".
Both nodding sagely at our recently acquired Bear tracking knowledge, we turned the corner on the beautiful tarmac trail path to cross a short and narrow bridge, over the creek.
It appeared we had been beaten to the first steps onto the bridge by a slightly larger (and more furry) local resident!
"ah ... hey Bear", said I
"gulp", said Sarah
5m away and pacing directly towards us, this was a Black Bear not to be obstructed!
Seriously ... all the coaching and preparation at Knight Inlet Lodge kicked in beautifully. It was clear the Bear wasn't stressed, and nor were we.
Sarah even had the presence of mind to gently send a 'calm down' gesture to a family getting out of a car in a nearby car park (albeit she reports her heart was pounding nonetheless).
Camera already in hand (no sudden movements) ... I took photos (as you do) and felt nothing but thrill as the Bear turned gently to its right as it passed us, within genuinely touching (of course not!) distance.
What a way to bring our month long trip to an super exciting close!
So the sun has set and another bucket list holiday has been ticked off. I wonder where the next trip will take us?
We can't wait for another trip into the WILDerness.
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