Bear Watching in Tofino

Tofino is well know for two activities, whale watching and bear watching. The weather has been overcast and rainy since we arrived, so the thought of heading out into open water chasing whales did not have much appeal. But what did appeal to us (well Ok, just me), was travelling along a sheltered shoreline in a zodiac looking for bears.

At low tide, the bears come out of the forest down to the beaches in search for crabs, or clams. Salmon are not heading inland to spawn until autumn, so this is the only source of protein for the bears. We signed up for a two and a half hour bear watching trip. There are many tour companies offering bear watching, but we chose Remote Passages, since they specifically designed their tours for photographers.

They used small zodiacs to get in close, and the groups are smaller, no more than 6 people. There were only three of us on our tour. Our guide Peter knew the islands pretty well, and wasted no time heading for bears.

As I mentioned, the weather was typical for Tofino, overcast and rain. The tours are very well organized - we watched a safety video and were fitted with survival suits, rain coats, gloves, toques, and ski masks to keep the rain from much of your face.  While travelling in open water, the rain seemed heavier, each raindrop felt like we were being hit in the face with rocks, so the ski masks really helped.  Before long we were scanning the coastline for bears, and it didn't take long to find them.

Peter thought our first bear was a juvenile, or a small female because of the smaller size.

She kept looking up at the trees, so Peter quickly found a small cub up in a nearby tree.  Mothers teach their cubs to climb trees when the mother is away from them looking for food.  Once she realized it was safe, she called the cub out of the tree.  We then realized there were two cubs, very small, probably 3 or 4 months old.

She spent most of her time watching the beach and the tree line for predators, she was not too concerned about us in the water.  The cubs were not really interested in looking under rocks, they were more interested in wrestling with each other.  Kids will be kids.  Eventually they made their way back into the forest to safety, and to feed the cubs.  At that age, they would still be breastfeeding.

We moved along as well, and we found a larger male looking for food.  He was quite a bit bigger that the female.

He could easily turn over rocks that were 100 pounds or more with a single paw, his left one at that.  He kept an eye on us, much more than the female, and grunted at us a few times to let us know it was his beach.

In addition to the bears, we saw bald eagles and sea lions.  But after a couple of hours, we were finished (and soaked).

A tip for photographers - use a Storm Jacket to keep your camera and lens dry in the rain.  Best gadget in the camera bag that day.

Given the cold, and rain, Mary Ann was a trooper - she took one for the team.  I was quite happy out on the water, but I think she was done after about 5 minutes of bear watching.  Been there, done that.  She was very happy to get back to shore...

Thanks to Peter and all the staff at Remote Passages for their hospitality!

Next up is a few from the Pacific coastline. Stay tuned.

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.

Thanks for reading...

Mark