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The morning light as we left Campbell River harbour on our 3 hour boat ride to the Grizzly Tour
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Our first sighting, 10 minutes into the trip: two humpback whales
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Our second marine mammal sighting was a small pod of four orcas - these were Biggs (transient killer whales)
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The main part of the trip was a land based grizzly bear tour in the Bute Inlet. This first one spotted appearing from a log jam on the other side of the river
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Shortly after seeing mama bear, her cub popped it's head up
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They then walked up the beach on the other side of the river
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Mum was clearly intent on catching something for them to eat.
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Wait, hold on, does she see something
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Mum's training skills for her cub on full display
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And then, faster than you can imagine, she dives in
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And catches a decent sized salmon. The two then disappear into the woods to their "day bed" to share the meal
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Another full sized adult appears demonstrating their ability to see under water
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Underwater fishing, but they tend to keep their ears above water so that they can still hear what is going on around them
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This is another full size (we assume male) of the nine bears that we saw
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It was intriguing watching them hunt using many of their senses
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Sight, sound and smell.
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One of my favourite shots from the day
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The confluence of two rivers north of the estuary was proving to be an amazing viewing spot
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Two bears then appeared, possibly younger brothers?
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Although they kept their distance, the bears did not seem to be worried about each other
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And were unbothered by us being there either. We were in secure viewing platforms with the guides.
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I'm not sure whether seagull meat is on the menu, but regardless this one stayed a safe distance away
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It was getting towards the end of the salmon season. Apparently there are three separate salmon runs
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Chinook, Coho and Chum.
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What we found intriguing was that the bears typically only eat a few parts of the salmon
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The eggs and the brains - the parts with the most calories
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It takes about 20,000 calories a day to get the bears up to weight for hibernation
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And so the female salmon are the best choice for feeding. Did I mention the bears claws?!
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They are clearly incredibly well equipped for hunting
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and HUGE!
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Crystal clear waters help the bears see the salmon
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And provided backdrops for some lovely shots
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After about 90 minutes of the most amazing display, the last bear swam and then ambled off down the river
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We drove off to another potential viewing spot where we saw one of several bald eagles
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Apparently common around the bear's feeding sites benefiting from the leftovers!
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Back on the boat, we set off back via an area where sea lions were known to hang out
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Hang out, and occasionally have a "head to head" - although I'm not sure I'd pick on this guy
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Moving on we got word that a large school of white sided dolphins had been sighted
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After some searching we saw a commotion in the water and slowed down, at which point the dolphins swam towards the boat
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Playing all around the boat, there turned out to be well over 50 dolphins in the school / pod
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With most of them diving in and around the boat, wake surfing and bow surfing
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And some of them really wanting to show off
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Time was getting on, so we had to say farewell to the dolphins
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Distracted from his attempt to get us back to the harbour, the captain found yet another pod of Orcas
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In total, the third pod for the day, with two types: both Biggs (transient) and one pod of Northern Residents. All in all, the most amazing day!