Close Encounters of the Grizzly Variety

We were sitting in a bear blind in Toba Inlet, British Columbia, on a Klahoose First Nation bear watching tour. A female grizzly bear with her two cubs was searching for spawning salmon in the river in late August 2019. The family was crossing a log over the river when a male grizzly bear suddenly came out from behind a tree onto the same log. The female quickly backed up with her cubs to the other side of the river. This photo captures the incredibly tense moments of uncertainty when neither the bears nor the human spectators knew whether a disastrous and tragic scene was about to unfold. Fortunately for all, the female and cubs hurried away, the male turned to his search for salmon, and the humans exhaled in relief and wonder.