Salvation is a fish
A fish so fat you can light it with a match, eulachon have been a critical part of Coastal First Nations culture for hundreds of generations.
Great Bear Rainforest
Beautiful unity
When you spend time looking for wolves, most of the time you end up watching other things instead. On this evening, it was sandpipers. Semipalmated or Western? In the fading light, I couldn’t be sure, and it didn’t really matter. It was good enough to simply watch them wheel and swoop in unison, each bird exquisitely sensitive to its neighbour, each responding to the smallest flicker of a wing.
Embracing mystery
One of the things that fascinates me about nature is all the things we don’t know. There is still so much mystery out there. As my Dad likes to say “ there are more questions…
Salmon are for the birds
You may be aware of the tight connections between salmon, forests and bears. But have you ever thought about the connections between salmon and songbirds? Perhaps it’s time you did?
2019 spirit bear highlights
2019 was an exceptional year for us with incredible bear sightings. Here’s a re-cap of some of the main characters from our tours in the Great Bear Rainforest.
BC’s coastal wolves: elusive and worthy of protection
I worked as a guide in the Great Bear Rainforest for 14 years before I managed to get a decent photo of a coastal wolf.
Great Bear Rainforest IMAX celebrates local First Nations
Three years is a long time to wait for anything. But finally (finally!) I was able to see the Great Bear Rainforest IMAX film.
Wolves are just wolves
I have read there have been more books written about wolves than any other species. There is something so compelling about them and, yet, they are also polarizing for people. Opinions about wolves are strong…
Wildlife photography is full of failures (and that’s okay)
This is a photo of an American black bear checking out a remotely triggered camera in the Great Bear Rainforest. Thanks to Paul Nicklen for technical assistance with this one (i.e. teaching this buffoon the basics of how to use and maintain an underwater housing). There were many, many failures while trying to get this one shot. So many failures. Oh, so many failures…
Salmon, spirit bears and Ma’ah.
This is Ma’ah. Her name means grandmother in the language of the local Tsimshian First Nations language. She is perhaps 18 years old, and she is a really special bear. Not only did Ma’ah appear…
More salmon, more grizzly cubs at play
These grizzly bear cubs are playful for a reason: their mother is a formidable salmon hunter.
A feeling is worth a thousand photos
It is what we had all hoped for. The bear had accepted our presence and was now perched on a rock mid-stream scanning the creek for salmon. Her white fur was wet from an overnight rain and steam rose from her back in the morning sun. It was like a scene from National Geographic television – only this was live.
Bears and Big News in the Great Bear Rainforest
The Great Bear Rainforest is a global treasure. In keeping with this, today I bring you some highlights from the rainforest in three languages and some really, REALLY big news.
How to make a Great Bear Rainforest film
Zip lines, cameras, grizzlies, salmon and adventure. This is filmmaking in the Great Bear Rainforest. Oh yeah, and giant slugs too…
Dispatch from the Great Bear Rainforest
Twelve years ago I arrived in the Great Bear Rainforest for my first job as a wildlife guide. I was a seasoned field biologist and had spent many seasons over mountains and tundra, but the coast was a whole new world for me. My boat skills were rusty, I knew almost nothing about the ocean and tides – and very little about grizzly bears. But it was not difficult to decipher that I was in a very special place. And it did not take me long to fall in love with it.