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Singing to Grizzly Bears
By Bob Duke
~ Passagemaker, March 2007
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Singing to Grizzly Bears
By Bob Duke
As the shout of "bear" rose over the clatter of the anchor chain, all eyes aboard Home Shore
turned toward a boulder-strewn spit.
I glimpsed a mass of reddish-brown shimmering fur and rippling
muscles as a grizzly bear dashed into a green copse and exploded out the other side. Moving at incredible
speed toward the mainland end of the spit, the grizzly disappeared into another thicket, and, as it emerged
on the far side, a murmur of relief rippled through the crew and guests. The infamous Lituya Bay's La Chaussee
Spit was vacant for our exploration.
Or was it?
Inside Passage cruisers who explore wilderness shores face a hazard unlike any encountered by cruising
boaters elsewhere in the world: the grizzly bear, North America's largest land predator. The wonderland of the
Inside Passage includes the prime grizzly territory of western Canada and Southeast Alaska. When going ashore
to enjoy a hot-spring soak, beaching a kayak for a lunch break, hiking a wilderness trail, or taking a dog
ashore for a romp, cruisers have to be alert for these animals.
This is not to say brown bears are waiting on every
beach. Many Inside Passage cruisers never see grizzlies and are more likely to catch a glimpse of their smaller cousins, black bears, which also may be dangerous.
A DIFFERENT DEFENSE
While typical protection strategies include carrying air horns, pepper spray, bells, or guns, we tested a different tactic during our visit to Lituya Bay.
Thanks to 85-year-old Audrey Sutherland, who has solo-kayaked more than 8,000 miles through Southeast Alaska in the past 26 years and has had many encounters with grizzlies, a group of fellow cruisers aboard Home Shore learned firsthand that singing also may be a defense against bear attacks.
Yes, singing. Ditties, barroom verses of the past, or just made-up songs.
Audrey insists that grizzlies are shy and that they understand her peaceful intentions when she sings. Wisely, she is cautious in bear country and is careful to give bears plenty of warning of her presence. She thinks bears are curious about fellow creatures. Singing reassures them, and, given a timely warning, most grizzlies will run for cover, she says.
Audrey's son, Jock, 55, reminds her that Timothy Treadwell, wildlife author and founder of Grizzly People (a grassroots organization devoted to protecting bears and preserving their habitat), was known to sing to bears to soothe them. That was before he and his companion, Arnie Huguenard, were mauled to death and eaten by grizzlies in Alaska's Katmai National Park in 2003.
Still, singing seems to work for Audrey.
In a form of counting coup (a nonviolent demonstration of bravery once practiced by Native Americans), Audrey has been within 150 feet of a grizzly bear more than 50 times.
GREAT APPEAL
Compounding the danger of bears is their great appeal as a wildlife attraction. Visitors from all over the world come to western Canada and Alaska hoping for a close-up view of the magnificent animals. Boaters are perhaps in the best position to see grizzlies, because cruising takes them into grizzly habitat.
If visitors don't want to chance meeting a bear on shore, there are plenty of places they can go to watch from protected viewpoints, including Anan Bay, between Ketchikan and Wrangell; Pack Creek on Admiralty Island, south of Juneau; and excursions out of Prince Rupert.
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