bear slowly fished for salmon as it made
its way toward and past our viewing sta-
tion. At one point, it was less than ten feet
away from us as it walked upstream in
search of salmon.
At this time of the year, kermode bears
are more or less habituated to the presence
of humans along salmon streams being
used for ecotourism. They seem to just
go about their normal feeding activities
without any undue stress. Our guides
never carried any firearms but did carry
bear spray, which never got used.
My second trip to the GBRF in 2017 was
a land-based trip at Spirit Bear Lodge in
Klemtu on Swindle Island. The lodge was
built in 2008 by the Kitasoo/Xai’xais to
enter the world of ecotourism. Each day,
guests would head out in high-powered
aluminum boats to pre-assigned viewing
areas on one of the many salmon streams
on Kitasoo/Xai’xais islands. We would
travel as much as 90 minutes to our as-signed area looking for humpback whales
along the way.
On our first day out, we were taken to a
stream on Princess Royal Island. We hiked
a short distance along the stream edge
through the rain soaked forest and then
down a steep cliff to a rather small view-
ing area perhaps ten feet or so above the
stream. We were in an area with a fairly
large pool with several fallen trees span-
ning the stream as natural bridges. The
rain had stopped and sunlight began to
poke through the clouds and openings in
the forest canopy. Dappled light created
high contrast light and dark areas along
the stream, making photography difficult.
Meringue-like gobs of foam rushed down
the stream or got stranded in the many
back eddies along the shoreline.
After about an hour of patient waiting,
our Kitasoo/Xai’xais boat driver radioed
that a spirit bear was on the shore at the
mouth of the stream. We all looked toward
the sea, just visible from our viewing posi-
tion. There it was, a spirit bear fishing pink
salmon at the mouth of the stream.
I don’t think it would matter how many
spirit bears I ever get to see, I expect the
anticipation and excitement (including
that initial adrenaline rush) will always
be the same for me. Our guide hoped that
the bear would work its way upstream to
us. After catching and devouring a couple
of salmon, it disappeared from view on the
same side of the stream as we were.
Minutes began to seem like hours. As I
looked up, the bear suddenly appeared on
the same trail we had used to get to our
viewing area. It was above us and perhaps
50 feet away, its white coat standing out
against the green of the forest. It was one
of those magic, almost fairy-tale type of
moments that you dream of. I’m not sure
if it looked at us. If it did, I missed that
shot. Obviously it knew we were there. Af-
ter pausing for just a few seconds, it made
its way down the very steep slope to the
stream and walked toward our position
passing right below us.
For the next hour or more, the spirit bear
feasted on pink salmon along the edges ofFor Bruce, the
anticipation
and excitement
of spotting and
photographing
spirit bears in
the GBRF will
never diminish.
12 More of Our Canada SEPTEMBER 2019