Watching the Black Bears of Tofino British Columbia

This weekend was different from our usual weekend excursion to view nature, this time we went exploring on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, however, that’s not what made this trip an outlier from our previous trips. What made this trip a unique adventure for us, was our goal to photograph Black Bears instead of my avian friends. Wait. What? Its spring, almost summer and birds are migrating and nesting, new migrant sightings are everyday and birds were not the prime focus! So like I was saying we ventured out to Vancouver Island, specifically Tofino, British Columbia which is known for its surfing beaches, whale watching, camping, and the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Tofino also has a yearly Shorebird festival during the beginning of May. If you are not familiar with Tofino its a district of about 1,876 residents on the west coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada, located at the western terminus of Highway 4, on the tip of the Esowista Peninsula, at the southern edge of Clayoquot Sound. To get to Tofino we had to catch a ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo, British Columbia and drove for two to three hours. Along the way we stopped at Cathedral Grove. Cathedral Grove is located in MacMillan Provincial Park, and contains stands of giant Douglas fir trees on Vancouver Island. Here you can stroll through a network of trails under the shadow of towering ancient Douglas-fir trees, some of the majestic trees are more than 800 years old. Our first night in Tofino we enjoyed the beach and a few hikes on the Wild Pacific Trail in the nearby town of Ucluelet. The next day was the day of the bear tour so we met at the tour company, The Whale Centre, and suited up with the Mustang Deluxe Anti-Exposure Coverall suit given to us by the tour company. The boat that was used was an open air type boat so the suit comes in handy to keep you warm as you zip out on the water. The tour lasted about 2.5 hours, which was used to explore the inlets in and around the Tofino area. During the tour we were able to see a total of four different black bears.

Black bears are the most common and widespread bear in Canada, and are found predominantly in forests. Black bears are omnivorous and very opportunistic eaters that will eat plants, grasses, roots, berries, insects, honey, fish, small mammals, crab, mussels, and carrion. Black bears tend to be solitary with the exception of mothers and cubs. They usually forage alone, but will tolerate each other and forage in groups if there is an abundance of food in one area. Black bear fur is usually a uniform color except for a brown muzzle and light markings that sometimes appear on their chests.

The first two bears we seen were sharing a beach, which was said to be unusual by our boat captain. These two went about their routine searching for food beneath the rocks on the rocky beach. We crept closer with the engines off and were able to get some nice photographs of them foraging on the beach. We were able to photograph them for about forty minutes before we decided to continue on to other inlets to see what else the island had in-store for us and to let them enjoy their fest waiting for them under the rocks and in the tide pools. The next bear encountered was bigger and seemed to be an older bear. This older bear was in a field of tall grass adjacent to a little lagoon with clear blue-green water. It was grazing on the tall lush green grass. The last bear we saw for the day was on our way back to Tofino. It was feeding on its own rocky beach in a different inlet. After watching him for a few moments it was a quick trip back to the pier on a beautiful sunny day.