Spirit bears, or Kermode bears, BC, Canada Sep 2008 Photo Gallery by Cindy Wheeler at pbase.com

Spirit bears, or Kermode bears, BC, Canada Sep 2008

A spirit bear, or Kermode bear, is a subspecies of the American Black Bear. These particular black bears carry a recessive gene that cause a small percentage of their offspring to have these white or cream colored coats. They are not albino and they are not polar bears.

I took a photography workshop (shootthelight.com) and we got right where the action was. I was told by a couple of people that the spirit bears are very rare and we wouldn't get to see the them but our luck (and the weather) held out. Beautiful sunny days and 2 spirit bears (3 sightings of the 2), black bears, humpback whales, many very shy harbor seals (no pictures), 3 types of salmon, eagles, a mink and pine martens. We stayed on a 71' sailboat, Ocean Light II, and went ashore at various places in the rain forest in B.C. What a fun, productive trip.

I hope you enjoy the images.

Spirit Bear (a sub-species of the black bear) in BC, Canada	Prince Rupert where we caught the float plane.	The boat. If you look closely you can see Jenn waving.	Fish tail (pink salmon)
Juvenile bald eagle	This was the second day and we saw this one from the boat.	(not a very good shot) of a spider web dripping with dew.	Heads and Tails (Pink Salmon)
Isn't this guy cool. Look at his blonde face. Giving us the eye.	Spirit Bear - look at his white toe nails. The logs make him look small but he's a big bear.	Spirit bear. He looks so cute when he's looking in the water for the salmon.	Spirit bear. Someone saw this and asked if he was pooping. No! He's eating. You can see the fish head under his left paw.
Spirit bear Love the bottom of his foot.	Spirit bear. He's caught another fish already	He's catching another one! He chased it and had to run under the tree to catch it.	This is the last I saw of him. He headed off in the woods after this shot.
We saw this coast guard boat one evening. It sure was lit up.	Pine marten	Do you see the salmon he's trying to catch?	Standing on a pretty small rock.
Still fishing	The water doesn't soak into their fur so it just flies right off when they shake.	IMG_20903504 x 2336.jpg	IMG_21563504 x 2336.jpg
You can see the salmon right under his right paw. He missed it.	He's a beautiful bear	Catching a fish	Salmon. I was told they get those upper teeth and the hump on their back when it's time to spawn.
Skinning the fish	IMG_32093504 x 2336.jpg	IMG_31813504 x 2336.jpg	IMG_26323888 x 2592.jpg
IMG_26343888 x 2592.jpg	IMG_26353504 x 2336.jpg	IMG_26633888 x 2592.jpg	IMG_26693888 x 2592.jpg
IMG_26963888 x 2592.jpg	IMG_27553888 x 2592.jpg	IMG_27643888 x 2592.jpg	IMG_27723888 x 2592.jpg
IMG_28073888 x 2592.jpg	IMG_28363888 x 2592.jpg	IMG_29523504 x 2336.jpg

comment |

The Ellisons		30-Jun-2012 11:09
Lucky you, what stunning images of the Kermode bear. High on our wish list. V+

Guest		25-Jul-2009 05:01
Great photo's of our region. I live in Prince Rupert, just heard the eagles calling. I have lived in this region 45 years and have only seen a Kermode once.

Barry Ailetcher		05-Oct-2008 03:33
Fantastic Gallery very well shot

Guest		05-Oct-2008 03:11
Outstanding gallery. Obviously you had a fantastic experience. I was lucky enough to go to Katmaai national park in Alaska this past July.

Guest		01-Oct-2008 16:23
Should have signed in when I made that last post so you knew who is was, sorry. Great job! What a beautiful place.

Guest		01-Oct-2008 16:19
These are so beautiful Cindy! What a fabulous trip! I can see why you wanted to go now.

Guest		28-Sep-2008 16:07
Hello Cindy, Your images look wonderful, and as always it was a pleasure seeing you again. Having chosen the right time and places to look for Spirit bears greatly increased our odds of locating them. It was a highly enjoyable and productive workshop. Chas www.shootthelight.com

Guest		27-Sep-2008 16:08
The spirit bears are wonderful. I have never heard of them. Thanks for sharing these images with the rest of us. --Shawn

HMCS Uganda		25-Sep-2008 03:05
Terrific work, it is always a pleasure to view your galleries! Eric

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