Charis Weathers
5/5
There aren’t enough “wow” words to describe our day trip grizzly tour in July with Sea Wolf Adventures. Let’s start with our captain, Sherry. She is from the area and started driving a boat when she was tiny. Beyond her incredible piloting skills, deep knowledge of these waters, and familiarity with each of the regional bears, Sherry radiates warmth and generosity. Brennan, who is also from this area, was our guide. While young, he is excellent interpersonally, and is on a deep dive journey learning his culture; he shares his knowledge and traditions with enthusiasm, sincerity, and openness. Our two leaders embodied a spirit of sharing, resilience, expertise, humility, and were just darn good to be around. A full day didn’t feel enough.
Next, the equipment: their 12 passenger boat, the Mayumi 2.0, was only two weeks old when we took our tour - it brand new!!! From the impressive speed, to the hydraulic seats that made the large waves easy on the body, to the beautiful and informative map and Kwakʼwala language words and phrases that were inlaid in the floor, the boat was comfortable and state of the art. There was a fully functioning toilet, and the main cabin had enough seats to comfortably seat (did I mention how comfortable to seats were?) twelve, with the ability to sit outside if desired. The skiff, designed to be quiet in shallow waters, into which we transferred for the grizzly watching, was also new and spacious enough for our tour of eleven. Michele, Sea Wolf’s admin person in the office took care of our needs on shore - loaning out good quality binoculars to everyone who wanted a pair, up to date and comfortable pfd’s, and ponchos (which we didn’t end up needing). She also managed our breakfasts and lunches, which were tasty and made to order. Her chipper, get-er-done attitude was welcoming and instilled confidence from the very start.
And last, the tour itself: we were out for nine hours, in two different boats. The grizzly watching in the area we visited is regulated; our viewing time was 10-12, and we were on site at exactly ten for maximum viewing. It took about twenty minutes of waiting, and then Thimble, a first time grizzly mom, strode out of the woods with her two babies following closely behind. These three gave us an hour and a half of dumbstruck viewing, from a safe and respectful distance. Momma Thimble swam and ambled her way along the entire shore, foraging for food and teaching her cubs how to be a bear. The cubs varied between taking her seriously and wrestling playfully. This experience was nothing short of magical, and we felt filled up as we headed back to the main boat. Delicious lunch was next, followed by Brennan teaching us about local Indigenous culture and ways of life through show-and-tell artifacts. We felt honored to listen and learn about the richness and uniqueness of the peoples who have inhabited and cared for these exact lands and waters for at least 14,000 years.
Speaking of waters, they were very very choppy on the way back, but those fancy seats made the bumps as fun as a roller coaster ride! Wildlife watching wasn’t over, though, as we were able to observe humpbacks spouting and a pod of Biggs orca.
We booked this tour specifically because it was Indigenous owned and led, because we’d learn about Indigenous history and ongoing presence, and because it offered the chance to see grizzlies in the wild. We expected the experience to be fabulous, but it was even more fabulous than we could’ve imagined.
