The Khutzeymateen trip

Those that have been following along will remember our trip last November to visit the polar bears in Churchill, here. Sunday we flew to Prince Rupert, then took a short shuttle bus ride to the fast boat that would take us into the Khutzeymateen Valley. 

It was an amazing day! This is a special place, kept undisturbed as a grizzly bear sanctuary. You can read about it here. 

The day went like this. Up a bit early for a 7:30 charter flight direct to Prince Rupert, complete with breakfast and more information about what we were going to see. A bus took us the short drive to the waiting boat. Once loaded we were off. The boat is fast and comfortable. There's three decks for outdoor viewing, though the wind is a bit much sometimes on the bow and top decks. The windows are huge for those that don't want to go outside. 

We were fortunate to only have a few light spatters of rain. The crew were kind of amazed the weather was so nice for us. The landscape photographers loved the brooding clouds. It was hard to know when to eat lunch because the scenery is lovely.

I'd dithered about what lenses to take. On the advice of someone who had done it, I took the 150-600 mm in addition to the 70-200 mm that I love. I'm mostly glad I did, even though my shoulder and arm were feeling it the next day. Both are big heavy lenses. There are rules about how close we can get to the bears or other wildlife, and a long lens is essential. I was careful with settings to get a fast shutter speed, but still ended up with some ISO noise and movement blur. 

I ended taking about 1000 photos, though I wasn't sure how many would actually work out. The long lens is a bit soft at the long end. Add in overcast skies giving lower light, driving the ISO higher to get fast shutter speeds. Consider we're on a boat, and the bears are often moving a bit, so I'm pleased I got anything recognizable. The pro photographers shared some of their photos on the boat, and of course they're much better.

In addition to the grizzly bears we saw killer whales, a humpback whale, a seal, sea lions, and lots of eagles. The eagle photos were with the 70-200 and a low ISO.

We got back late afternoon, took the shuttle back to the plane and back in Calgary by about 8:30. Like the polar bear tour, it was well organized, and centred on giving us a great experience. 

1. Shortly after departure. Such a pretty sailboat, with Prince Rupert in the distant background.

2. A pod of killer whales.

3. I took the photo because someone said they were there, but I didn't see them with my eyes.

4. Our first bear. For once I actually saw it before it was pointed out. Normally I'm the one that can't see the wildlife, and often joke I'd be a terrible hunter gatherer.

5. The female isn't interested in him.

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7. This one was really hard to see, blending in with the fallen tree.

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9. The long slow rounded back isn't so interesting for photos, but the tail always is.

10. I think these are sea lions. Or maybe seals. I was hoping for sea otters.

11. I think it's the same whale. Even though we're close to shore the captain said the inlet is about 2,000 feet deep, and the currents make it a rich feeding area.

12. The eagles show up on the way back into Prince Rupert. I think they're smart enough to know the fishing boats discard scraps, and follow along. At least a dozen eagles showed up. I just glad I didn't clock anyone with my lens as I swirled around trying to follow the birds.

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16. A couple of my favourite brooding landscapes.

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18. Our tour included a couple pro photographers. I'm almost as interested in watching them work as I am at the actual scenery or event. Will was mostly doing people photography, here he is looking for his next image.

19. Colleen got some amazing photos!

20. Les is an experienced naturalist happy to talk to anyone about what we're looking at.

For new readers, we move on to a regular feature of the blog. There's still lots of eagle photos, so I'll probably add eagles till they run out. If you'd like to be notified of future blog updates, please leave a comment below, or email me at keith@nucleus.com.

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