![]() | itinerary < 5 June onboard the Great Bear II 7 June > | Great Bear Wilderness: BEARS r June 2023 |
Mrs Robinson |
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Moms and yearling cubs |
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On another day, we Zodiaced up the estuary and saw a big dark bear deep in the Sedge. At first, Eric thought it was a boar, but after awhile Rochelle noticed that the Grizzly seemed distracted by something upriver, and finally detected the barest hint of a pair of ears: a cub, possibly a Spring cub, scarcely five months old. Eventually we determined there were two cubs hunkered deep in Sedge, but very curious about us. Finally, just before we left, both cubs stood briefly to look at us; unfortunately, I fumbled the camera and got a useless picture of the island’s bank. |
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Yet another day, we saw a Grizzly sow and one cub on the rim of the sedgey tidal flat. Soon her second cub appeared. Some of these bears are more comfortable with human observers and these paid us little attention. |
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A little later the same day, we saw a sow and her two cubs, who were very interested in us, and not necessarily in a good way. After carefully examining us for a few minutes, the sow gave us a growl and they scampered (to the extent that a 600 pound sow can) into the deep nearby woods. |
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Another day, while traveling between anchorages, Captain Eric reported a sighting of a mother Grizzly and her three cubs at the head of an inlet we passed. Rochelle saw them, but I did not. |
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At two of our anchorages (so far) from the boat, Grizzlies were visible in the Sedge-covered islands exposed by low tides. Here in the northern latitudes it’s early times for bears, and especially the mothers, who have been nursing two, three, or even four cubs through the winter, are depleted. In Spring, the Lyngby’s Sedge is up to 25% protein, and helps to sustain them until the berries of summer and the Salmon of Fall. |
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Along the way, pictographs, possibly a century old according to Eric, who has asked the local chief if it’s okay for me to post their picture. ‘Only as long as their location is not revealed,’ I have been told. Center left, a copper shield from the time after contact when copper was introduced. The rows of dots bottom center may represent bodies buried on ledges on the nearby cliffs. |
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