Animal watching is always a tricky mix of luck & making your own luck. We'd maybe left it a bit late in the season for both whales & bears but the planets aligned for us & the days of frustration with the weather & the tour company paid off. We were booked on a grizzly tour & the weather was perfect! No wind... check. No clouds... check. No rain... check. Enough other interested parties for the boat to sail... check. 
As we were boarding the captain said to us, "what would you say if I told you we were going to see orcas today?". We could hardly believe our ears because the whales had been making themselves scarce for some days & we had almost resigned ourselves to not seeing them. Not 10 minutes from the marina we were in the middle of a super-pod of Orcas! Two or three resident pods had come together in a massive group of 20-30. In the background of the photo above you can see Campbell River.
We were surrounded by these awesome creatures that are nearly as intelligent as us & 10 times as heavy. The family group above are part of one of G-Pod who are one of the northern resident pods. They are rarely seen as far south as Campbell River. The big male is called Shushartie (G39), the bigger of the females is his younger sister Tatchu (G52), another female Glide (G54) (far left) and a very young & unnamed calf. The calf is believed to be Tatchu's. I sent some of the photos to the Vancouver Aquarium who are the central point for all things orca. It turns out these are the first ones they've seen of this calf. 
Everywhere we looked they were surfacing & acting up.
I would have been quite happy to hang around them for hours, but we had a tight schedule to meet the grizzlies two hours away. 20 minutes would have to be enough that day.
We crossed the straights to Bute Inlet that cuts into the mainland (grizzlies don't live on Vancouver Island). It was a little cloudy but conditions were great for boating. Bute Inlet can be a nasty place for a boat if the wind & the tides are fighting each other (and often do). The only problem was the debris (mainly trees) littering the inlet thanks to storms the previous week.
We arrived at the Homalco First Nations land.
We had lunch at the dock before boarding the bus for the bumpy ride along a dirt logging track to visit the grizzlies.
We were surrounded by these awesome creatures that are nearly as intelligent as us & 10 times as heavy. The family group above are part of one of G-Pod who are one of the northern resident pods. They are rarely seen as far south as Campbell River. The big male is called Shushartie (G39), the bigger of the females is his younger sister Tatchu (G52), another female Glide (G54) (far left) and a very young & unnamed calf. The calf is believed to be Tatchu's. I sent some of the photos to the Vancouver Aquarium who are the central point for all things orca. It turns out these are the first ones they've seen of this calf. Everywhere we looked they were surfacing & acting up.I would have been quite happy to hang around them for hours, but we had a tight schedule to meet the grizzlies two hours away. 20 minutes would have to be enough that day.We crossed the straights to Bute Inlet that cuts into the mainland (grizzlies don't live on Vancouver Island). It was a little cloudy but conditions were great for boating. Bute Inlet can be a nasty place for a boat if the wind & the tides are fighting each other (and often do). The only problem was the debris (mainly trees) littering the inlet thanks to storms the previous week.We arrived at the Homalco First Nations land.We had lunch at the dock before boarding the bus for the bumpy ride along a dirt logging track to visit the grizzlies. We passed a number of towers like the one below before stopping at tower 4. The guides walked us 50m down the road to tower 5 (below). It's the very last one that is positioned right where two rivers meet.
From the tower we had a clear view of some prime salmon fishing grounds (below).
After 10 minutes we saw our first bear & he was a big one.
The bear was so intent on hunting fish that he didn't even notice the excited tourists in our tower.
He crossed in front of us before crossing the river to the far bank still searching for food.
Before the first bear had vanished into the bush, another had appeared from straight in front of us (below). The two hour procession had begun.
A juvenile bald eagle (below) interrupted briefly.
Our second bear spotted a target & suddenly leapt into the water but unfortunately failed in its bid for a meal.
Bear after bear appeared from around the bend.
Eventually the guides herded us reluctantly back into the bus. They stopped at Tower 1 for only 5 minutes but even then we saw two bears.
As we left tower 1, our path was blocked by a huge male (below). He wasn't moving for any bus full of tourists. On his own terms he took a left turn into the bush & merged into the shadows.
After 10 minutes we saw our first bear & he was a big one.The bear was so intent on hunting fish that he didn't even notice the excited tourists in our tower.
He crossed in front of us before crossing the river to the far bank still searching for food.
Before the first bear had vanished into the bush, another had appeared from straight in front of us (below). The two hour procession had begun.
A juvenile bald eagle (below) interrupted briefly. Our second bear spotted a target & suddenly leapt into the water but unfortunately failed in its bid for a meal.
Bear after bear appeared from around the bend.
Eventually the guides herded us reluctantly back into the bus. They stopped at Tower 1 for only 5 minutes but even then we saw two bears.
As we left tower 1, our path was blocked by a huge male (below). He wasn't moving for any bus full of tourists. On his own terms he took a left turn into the bush & merged into the shadows.
There was no mucking around back at the boat. Late in the season the daylight hours are short & navigating the in the dark with all the floating logs isn't something any boat captain wants to do. 
What a great day! Whales & Bears in the same day!
