The spirit bear was the main point of this expedition. Despite the bear being white it is an autosomal recessive variant so both parents may have been typical appearing black bears. The variant is found on only a few islands off the coast of British Columbia and there are very few of them to be seen. No exact census has been done

This is one of the typical black bears. Since the spirit bear is simply a genetic variant they occur together with the black bears and can be seen together

The old growth rain forest is quite dramatic with green and moss everywhere

It's really quite striking walking down the forest path

In other places there are rapid streams and the view opens up, but there is still plenty of moss to be seen.

Sunrise as seen from a boat cruising the islands can be quite dramatic

These salmon waiting to move upstream to spawn are of course why all the bears are here and what keeps them fat and healthy

The coastal grizzlies were quite happy eating salmon, but to my surprise these were feasting mostly on the dead fish scattered over the river bottom rather than catching the many live salmon swimming by.

Nonetheless they were well fed with sleek coats and lots of cubs in evidence

Curiosity seemed to trump fear for most of the cubs who were quite content to stare back at the photographers

Still they were looking for any entertainment they could find

Mom however was not quite as sure we were safe visitors

And she shortly ordered everybody up the hill to a safer distance from us

Humpback whales were everywhere to be seen often in pods as this group of three ilustrates

They weren't the least disturbed by the nearness of our boat

The black bears were catching live salmon and seemed very adept fishermen

Catching live fish required a little more speed and agility than the coastal grizzlies were showing

But the fresh salmon certainly looked more tasty

Clearly they were not afraid of us, often walking right by at a distance of only five or six feet with nothing more than a curious glance

The pine martin was happy to frequent the area looking for scraps. We were told they were quite shy and I was happy to get this shot with a telephoto lens

Somehow he didn't get the message and in this shot he's too close for the lens to focus on the left side of his face. Ultimately he walked up to sniff the toe of my shoe. Nothing I could do with a telephoto lens that wouldn't focus closer than ten feet but smile

Dippers are normally shy river birds, but here they were feasting on fresh salmon eggs and all caution was thrown to the winds. They too would approach quite closely. This one jumped on top of my boot and started up the leg of my pants.

And yes of course, this is the domain of the spirit bear and that was the main attraction of this trip. This guy was not intimidated by us and walked right past the group several times to have closeups taken.

Did you get that shot guys? Would you like a different angle?

You did ask me to come back when the light changed didn't you?

Okay here I am again posing on the log like you asked.

Notice the photographers sticking out on the river bank to the left and the black bear casually fishing on the risht.

Here's the spirit bear. If you check the rocks in the water you'll see he's staring directly across at where the photographers are on the left. Good think none of us smelled like fish.