After an early breakfast we head out into the estuary, it’s misty, overcast but it’s not raining. It’s a very nice setting for some potential grizzly bear viewing.
We turn the corner to enter the estuary and see a whole lot of interactions and bear behaviour. We have a total of 8 bears in an area of about 200m. There is a Mum with two cubs, she and the cubs seem very relaxed. A Mum with a single cub is there, both seem quite nervous, we postulate whether she is a first time Mum or maybe has lost a cub which makes her wary, two more subadults who seem to be siblings as they are hanging out together and finally a fully grown large bear. The salmon are also running in the creek and estuary so there is an easy feeding frenzy.
Even though the Mum with two cubs seems very relaxed when one of the subadult bears comes too close in her opinion , it gets a big chase and hurry along.
We have been viewing all the bears for three hours and the Mum with two cubs retreats to a large log and lies down to feed the cubs. André has noticed this and manages a quick shot as we go by. We all think that was pretty special, but then the Mum comes out with the cubs to the very edge of the beach right in front of the zodiac. She sits back on her hunches and both cubs come in to her.
She rolls back onto her back and starts feeding them, we just can’t believe the trust of us that this shows!
We feel very privileged to have seen all this, so we head back to the boat, time for a longish ride to refuel before the changeover tomorrow.
Our group has really gelled, we all are very different but we are united by the awe of this special place and the magic of the moments spent with the bears.
It’s a farewell dinner of wild caught sockeye salmon BBQ with a nice flaked almond crust. We get a good sleep and then the 3 hour water taxi transfer to Prince Rupert before our outgoing flight.
We are relieved that it is calm and the sea is flat but even so we get a good roller coaster ride in the small vessel of the water taxi.
On the way we see a house being moved up the river.
We arrive just in time to see the infamous Ruby Princess cruise ship docked in town for the final Alaska cruise, the multi-storey vessel fills the little town of Prince Rupert with its passengers, a very different look to this sleepy town compared to normal. Back to Vancouver we go without any airport adventures.