Guests Who Are Great Sports and 1 Darned Grizzly Bear

Why is he a darned grizzly bear? Because he chose to amble across the beach 150 yards away from the Nautilus Explorer in the middle of my morning briefing. Cheeezzzz, how am I supposed to do a briefing when all the guests are running for their cameras and binoculars?! Anchored up in beautiful and scenic Secret Bay today. I hesitate to publish the topographic name of this bay because (a) it is so beautiful (b) we have had really good luck with grizzly bears here (c) there is an amazing grotto of marble accessible up the stream (d) when the salmon return to this stream, it is a great place to snorkel with them and (e) we have a permit with the good graces of the U.S. Forest Service that allows our guests stroll, walk and hike through the rainforest here

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Hoping to Find Grizzly (Coastal Brown) Bears

Started today off with a hike along Sweetheart Creek, hoping to find grizzly (coastal brown) bears. When the salmon start returning and fighting their way upriver, this is a fabulous spot to watch grizzly bears. We have seen up to 5 grizzly bears at one time here.

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The Ratfish of Dillon Rock

Yaayyhhh Shushartie Bay! It’s such a great place to visit. We are usually able to observe lots of black bears on the beach, the shore hiking is great (unless you run into a black bear!) and the kayaking is excellent. Dillon Rock is a famous dive site and is a pinnacle that barely breaks the surface at the entrance to Shushartie Bay. Regardless of the visibility, it is always a crowd-pleasing dive with lots of wolf-eels (7 at last count), lots of giant Pacific octopus (gpd’s to use the local vernacular), a beautiful kelp forest, rare vermillion rock-fish and loads of ratfish swimming around on the flats just off the rock. 

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