Wildlife - 1st HM

Grizzlies Sparring

In a little less than a month, I'll be back in Canada's Great Bear Rainforest.  It's such a beautiful region, and it's impossible to predict what sort of wildlife will provide the highlight of the trip.  Whales, wolves, spirit bears... last year, it was these two grizzlies, which spent a good three hours wrestling, biting and batting each other in chest deep water.  My tour group was privileged to witness part of this encounter from a Zodiac at pretty close range.  Though the battle was never too serious (perhaps they were siblings, or males practicing for mating season the following spring), it was an amazing thing to witness.

I did crop in a bit, mainly in order to eliminate the gulls that often provided a distracting background, but also to emphasize the shape of the two combatants and that great splash in between.

Canon 1DX
Canon 600mm
ISO 1600
1/1250th
f/4.5
Hand-held in a Zodiac

Max