bet this was a case of "first you say IT, then you do IT" for kayaker... as in OH, SH!$!

in my area, black bear have been seen more and more often... middle of NJ, mostly suburban and farm lands. though carnivores (well, omnivores technically) a black bear isn't gonna hunt down a person. any unfortunate injuries during encounters are often because bear/person totally caught off guard. or of cubs are involved.

sister took me wild blueberry picking on mountain side in WV. she said make a point to TALK, even louder than usual. odds are if a bear hears loud-mouth people, it's gonna leave before people even know it's there.

Must’ve been in Vancouver. Whistler is near Vancouver.

maybe when I take my dog out in the middle of the night, I should stop telling her to look for grizzly bears.

Where I live, when people go out walking in the woods or for a hike, they often attach small bells to their clothing or backpack to let bears know that humans are in the area. The idea is that, as mentioned above, any bears that are around will move on before they are encountered by people. We call them bear bells.

Luckily, unlike grizzlies, black bears are not usually aggressive unless there is food involved or they are protecting cubs.

This is in Squamish which is half-way between Whistler and Vancouver and is well-known for its river rafting.

Here is the news report and interview

https://globalnews.ca/video/4335418/kayaker-chased-by-grizzly-all-caught-on-camera

I used to live up in Prince George BC, about 10 miles outside of the city on a few acres. Having bears walk through our property was normal. Strange thing though, we weren't afraid of them. I can't tell you how often I walked to and from my friends at night in the dark and was hardly ever afraid of the wildlife that could be hiding in the bush. I was more afraid of the boogeyman. lol