In 2007 we spent five days on a Spirit (Kermode) Bear watching tour out of the Spirit Bear Lodge, in Klemtu, British Columbia. Spirit Bears are white or cream coloured black bears. The colouring is caused by a recessive gene that is present in about 10% of the bear population in coastal BC.
Black coloured parents can have white or black cubs. The same is true if one parent is black and the other white. Two white parents will always produce white cubs. Spirit Bears are not albinos and are not related in any way to Polar Bears.
This trip was completely different for us for two reasons. Firstly, we had never done a wildlife watching tour/safari before. What made it truly unique however was that we were the main actors in a television documentary program. This program was part of a series called Tribal Treks. The series was about aboriginal toursim operations in Canada. Each program in the series follows tourists as they take a tour. We were the tourists for the Spirit Bear watching tour.
The documentary program is in three parts totalling about 24 minutes. You can see the videos in full screen view and higher resolution by pressing the buttons on the lower right.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3: