I’ve been sitting in the rain for several days and frankly it’s getting a bit frustrating. I guess that is why the coast of British Columbia, Canada is called a rain forest. Technically it’s called a temperate rainforest but rainforest none-the-less. Whatever you call it, constant rain, day and night, for nearly a week is getting old.

Taking shelter in a small cover, we anchored the 71 foot sail boat we are traveling and living aboard. As we have many time before we jumped in the zodiac, a small power boat, and head up a river that dumps into the bay in search of grizzly bears. Luck has it we find a female with a yearling cub. They are sleeping on the bank. We are very quiet and slip up to wait for them to wake. It wasn’t long before the female suddenly jumped to her feet looking into the woods behind her. Obviously she has heard something or smelled something. We don’t see anything. The cub joins her standing and looking.

The bears turned towards us and started walking down to the riverside. Standing side by side, the mother and cub lower their heads to take a sip of water allowing for me to capture some good images. We spend the next couple of hours in the pouring rain with these bears enjoying a number of wonderful photographic opportunities. I am currently working on a book about bears which is the reason I am in this remote part of North America.

Back at the sail boat we pull anchor and head out. The rain is still coming down and the weather forecast is calling for gale force winds and more rain. Whoopee, lucky me. It rains the rest of the day and all night too. Again we are sailing up through the inside passages towards our next destination.

Again in the pouring rain we anchor for the night in a wonderful cove. Tomorrow we will hit the land and start our search for the elusive Spirit Bear. Meanwhile we change our clothing and head to a natural hot spring for a bit of a soaking. We haven’t had a shower in four days so the hot bath is welcomed. We soak in the hot water for about a half hour with the rain coming down. We go to bed feeling a bit better after the public bath with high hopes for the morning. We go to sleep listening to the raindrops on the hatch window in the sleeping birth. Not a pleasant sound.

Before day break we are up, eat breakfast and pack up our gear and food for the day. It is no surprise, it is still raining. Our destination is a small island about 10 miles by 15 miles in size and looks more like a mountain rising out of the ocean. By the time we reach shore in our small boat we are already soaked. Climbing from the landing craft we step onto very slippery rocks each about 2 feet in diameter. We climb up the rocks hauling our gear and gather at the top just inside the woods. Next we walk on what is suppose to be a foot trail but is now a shallow running stream due to all the rain for about a half a mile to a small stretch of the river. Here is where we are most likely to see what we have come all this way to photograph. The stream is shallow, only 30 or so feet wide. The good news is there are salmon in every pocket of the swift moving water.

The bears come from the surrounding area to catch fish. For the next two days this will be our home. We will return to the boat to sleep but the rest of the time will be with the bears. We set up gear and tried to keep dry as much as possible. Keeping 25 thousand dollars worth of camera gear dry in these conditions is fairly challenging and not very fun.

We had to wait only a half hour or so before we spotted one of the Spirit Bears making its way down the river. We set up to get ready. Within a few minutes the bear is right in front of me and I am capturing images of one of the most uncommon animals in North America.

Spirit bears which are sometimes called Ghost Bears is genetically identical to a Black Bear but it’s parents had a recessive gene which causes them to not produce the black melanin which is normally present in their fur. The bears that live on these islands have been isolated long enough that abnormalities like this show up. Only one in ten baby bears born in the region are white. The Spirit Bears live long and productive lives, unlike albino bears which they are often confused.

After two days I managed to capture some of the most amazing fishing behaviors of the Spirit Bears and also the traditional Black Bear. Over all this has been an amazing adventure and we still have about 3 more days of traveling to get back to civilization. Until next time

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the world to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on Twitter and Facebook. Web site is www.naturesmart.com