The spirit bears were a one-day wonder. But grizzlies we saw virtually every day, in both locations. And they were busy getting fat for hibernation.
1. Foraging
In the fall, grizzlies are committed to eating. They do nothing else. This period, known as hyperphagia, has the goal of building up fat stores for the long hibernation to come. On Knights Inlet, they head for the estuary, seen here from our float plane:
and from our skiff:
This is where the bears come to gorge. From our small tippy open boats (not the ideal platforms for taking photos) they appear to us first as rather nondescript distant brown blobs:
The sedge grasslands are full of succulent roots rich in sugars and starches, so they put their butts in the air, their heads down, dig, and munch. They remind me of cows, or perhaps hippos.
One of their favorites is Rice Root, desired for its tiny white tuber the size of my little finger nail that tastes rather like jicama (I tried it!), though it is actually related to Fritillaria.
God knows how many they eat each day, but judging by their bellies it is quite a lot.
They dig away, rarely raising their heads, and thus thwarting most attempts at photography.
I did discover one technique for getting them to raise their heads. Lower my camera, and sure as God made little green apples, up come their heads. Every now and again, the stars aligned and I got a shot. This is Flora, the mother (right) and Fauna a 3-year old cub, left. More on them another time.
They’re so immersed in digging that they look up only briefly even when another boatload of photographers passes close behind them:
Here is a short video of them hard at work, first the cub then the mother:
There is apparently some mother-daughter friction vying for the best spot:
But the cub digs on, oblivious:
PS: They eat a range of plants. Here are some favorites:
Eyes on the Wild 
Lots of amazing photos. Are the Grizzlies so used to humans, in skiffs/boats, that even when they are eating, they don’t care?
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The grizzlies disregard of the boats seems to be a function of several things. First, the females and cubs have smaller territories than the males, so some are pretty much resident near the lodge, and get habituated to seeing humans. Second, if we are in boats they find us much less threatening than on foot, where they would not tolerate us nearly so close. (Think of humans in cars watching wildlife, vs. on foot). Third, at this time of year they are very very focussed on fattening themselves up, so they are too busy to care. And finally photos are misleading. We are not nearly as close as it might appear!!
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What another incredible adventure!
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