Gribbell Island on the North Coast of British Columbia is deep in the Great Bear Rainforest. You may have to wait a while to see a white “spirit” bear, but it’ll be worth it. This is a rare Kermode bear that lives on the island and just a few other places. Explore the forest by boat to see other wildlife such as grizzly bears, orcas, humpback whales and sea lions.A UBC genetics study headed by Dr. Kermit Ritland discovered that the island is evolutionarily significant as over 40% of its small isolated population of 100-150 Kermode bears, a subspecies of the North American black bear, are white. This represents Canada’s Galapagos. Evolutionary biologists believe that the gene for the white coat evolved on Gribbell and they call it the “mother island of the white bears”. A 2012 VWS cumulative effects study by Wayne McCrory showed that past over hunting and trapping and collection of white hides for museums combined with clearcut logging and declining salmon runs may be putting this unique bear gene pool on the edge.
