We were blessed with beautiful weather every day while anchored in Booker Lagoon.  And, every day that I went paddling, I saw bears.  The spring tide is like a magnet that draws the bears to the shoreline, where they hope to find delectable crustaceans left high and dry by the extra low tide.  I’ve never seen this many bears at Booker.  But, maybe we just weren’t here at spring tide before.

It was almost dark when I spotted the first bears, a momma and her three cubs, on the beach just behind our boat.  I quickly threw on my life jacket, dry suit pants, boots, and camera, and got paddling for the beach, hoping the bears were too busy looking for goodies to notice me.  The cubs were so excited, checking out every rock, while Momma Bear got serious about rustling up dinner.  I maintained what I hoped was a safe distance, but where I could still get half-way decent photos.  Momma bears can get real mean if they think you’re going to mess with their cubs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went paddling every morning at low tide, and every morning I saw bears, but never Momma Bear and her three cubs.  They had apparently moved on.  I did, however, see these same two bears, every morning,  combing the shoreline , in what seemed to be their respective territories.  One bear was pretty “seasoned” and had the scars to show for it.  I was able to get closer to these bears, since they didn’t have cubs, at times getting to within about 20 feet when the wind blew me towards the shore.  It’s hard to concentrate on getting a good shot, while trying not to get eaten by your subject.  I got some pretty hard stares at times, which made me quickly ascertain my distance.  And, at times, I was afraid they might think I was trying to steal their delicious crabs.  As much as they seemed to relish the crabs, I don’t think they’d take too kindly to poachers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I was out paddling, Al set our prawn trap.  On his first pull, he had 81 small but delicious humpback shrimp.  Al served them over spaghetti and tossed with pesto sauce.  They were sooo sweet and succulent.  The next day’s pull yielded 76 humpback shrimp and 2 large prawns.  I’ll take the shrimp every time.  The shrimp are so much sweeter.  The last pull consisted of 78 humpback shrimp and 4 prawns.  For three days we ate like kings.  I don’t think I could ever get tired of shrimp and pasta.

When Al wasn’t pulling traps or maintaining the engines, he enjoyed watching the hummers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One poor guy wound up in our cockpit, where he kept trying to fly through the Isinglass enclosure.  I tried to head him toward the exit, but he persisted in trying to fly through the Isinglass.  Finally, exhausted, he sat on the teak rail, trying to get his bearings. 

 

 

When he’d rested a bit, I opened the canvas enough for him to escape.

For some reason, there weren’t any seabirds to speak of in Booker this year.  I did manage to get a shot of this immature bald eagle, however.

 

 

 

 

 

And, I spotted this robin working the shore.

 

 

I also discovered this totem, or I think it’s a totem.  Maybe it’s just a figment of my imagination, but this “rock fellow” seemed to be resting against a rock, enjoying some beautiful yellow wildflowers.