While the wind was blowing 45 knots out in Queen Charlotte Sound, we only experienced the occasional 35-knot gust. However, the accompanying rain was a real soaker, making it impossible for me to go paddling. Fortunately, the one reasonably dry day resulted in a lot of interesting photo ops.
The weather was so unstable, that I decided not to paddle to the creek near the entrance to Kakushdish. I was disappointed that I wouldn’t have one last chance to possibly see a bear or wolf there, like I have in the past, but I didn’t want to be caught out in 30 knot winds either. So, I checked out the small creek closest to the boat first. These Sandhill Cranes blend in with the shoreline so perfectly that I didn’t spot them before they spotted me and took flight.
I was surprised to find this pair of Hooded Mergansers cruising along the shoreline. I didn’t dare get too close. This was my first encounter with a male Hooded Merganser and I didn’t want to spook him.
The male caught himself a nice fish.
I spotted this Immature Eagle perched on a rock onshore, looking for salmon.
There were a couple of other Eagles perched on rocks in the middle of the creek. They seemed to take their salmon fishing more seriously.
This lucky guy caught himself a nice one.
Here’s another lucky guy, but his “friend” looks like he’s hoping he’ll share.
Another Immature Eagle flew in to check out the action.
I spotted this guy hiding in the weeds.
It certainly looked like the salmon have finally arrived. I decided to check out the bigger creek. As I was paddling around the point that separates the two creeks, I spotted Eagles way up in the treetops. You would think they’d be down here where all the action is.
I heard a murder of Ravens raising a racket and looked up just in time to spot this big Black Bear sitting in the tall grass, sizing up the situation.
I couldn’t figure out what he was staring at, and why the Ravens were in such an uproar. Then, I noticed that he was looking into a huge Indian fish weir that I’d never seen before. I paddled around to the mouth of the creek to get a better look at the weir. I guess I’ve never been to this creek at a spring low tide before. I spotted a dead salmon lying outside the weir on one of the rocks that formed the walls of the weir.
A little farther down, at a lower spot in the wall, I spotted another salmon.
From this spot I could look over the wall. That’s when I saw them…. thousands of salmon, dead.
They must have spawned and died this morning, because there was absolutely no odor. I noticed that the bottom of the weir is pea-sized gravel, the perfect spot for salmon to spawn.
Then, I saw the bear make a move. He was on a mission.
Luckily, he wasn’t interested in me, he was looking to have salmon for breakfast. He quickly snatched up the first salmon he came to and took off for the trees.
I decided to hang around and see if he would return. I moved to the other side of the weir so I could get a shot of him head on.
About 10 minutes later, he was back.
I took shot after shot, from my position on the other side of that 2 ft. high rock wall, as he returned time and time again, gorging himself at the Kakushdish All-You-Can-Eat Salmon Bar..
These salmon will give a lot of bears the necessary fat they need to survive the winter months, which will be here before we know it.
The Ravens were getting their fill also.
We enjoyed a couple of beautiful Kakushdish sunsets.
Summer Cruise Aboard "Jubilacion" 2017 