Grizzly Bears

The highlight of my autumn adventures in the Great Bear Rainforest was provided by this pair of grizzly bears.  They went at it like this for hours, and my group was fortunate to be sitting in a Zodiac with a front row seat for the action for part of that time.

This is not a fight to the death.  Instead, it's more of a sparring session.  The bears may have been siblings, or perhaps a pre-courting pair (it was the wrong time of year for mating season).  The larger, darker bear (left) kept sniffing and following the other around, and the lighter bear didn't seem to appreciate the attention all that much.  Eventually, they started going at it, with the lighter bear being much more aggressive most of the time.  Biting, swiping, wrestling and splashing ensued, and as you can imagine it was a blast to witness.

Canon 1DX
Canon 600mm f/4 IS
ISO 2000
1/800th
f/4

Max