Praying for Clams

In the early morning hours in Khutzeymateen Provincial Park, British Columbia, I transferred from a majestic 70 foot ketch-rigged sailboat to a small zodiac boat that would take me up the Khutzeymateen Inlet to view grizzly bears. We slowly travelled up the inlet and soon discovered a grizzly bear mother with her three cubs on the beach and she was teaching them to clam! The grizzlies are so large and powerful – even the cubs – I was expecting them to just chomp down a clam – shell and all. But that’s not how it works. After digging up the clam, they ever so gently use those giant claws, placing a claw between the shells, and then TING! it pops open and the bear sucks up the juicy meat. ...View all