Alert Bay & Johnstone Strait, British Columbia
Alert Bay’s First Nation people welcomed the National Geographic Sea Lion, the last ship of the year, with their well-known spirit of openness and authenticity. Theirs is a culture of giving and sharing; dancing their joy in knowing who they are after thousands of years of living on this land. The U’mista Cultural Center houses the Potlatch Collection, a stunning group of beautifully carved, old cedar masks that have been repatriated long after they were confiscated from an ill-fated potlatch held in 1921. Our guided visit there certainly added to our knowledge of the art and ceremony of the Kwakwaka’wakw. Up the hill in the extraordinary Big House, the school age dance group gave us a taste of their major Potlatch dances. Dressed in stunning regalia, the dancers twirled about the central fire as did their ancestors before them. We watched young hamatsas, the weather dance, and a peace dance complete with eagle down floating from the dancers’ regal headdresses to land gently on the floor. The last dance, the fun dance, had everyone in the house moving to the beat of the log drum.
In just a few hours of cruising in sunny Johnstone Strait this afternoon, we observed seven marine mammal species! The currents of this area squeezing through and between the inlets and islands are very dramatic and many areas have swirling water and surface chop. The swift and tumbling waters cause a mixing of nutrients and help create a rich planktonic broth upon which small fishes feed. Those masses of small schooling fish support large colonies of seabirds, harbor seals, Steller or northern sea lions, Dall’s and harbor porpoise, Pacific white-sided dolphin and large mammals like humpback whales.
The orca (Orcinus orca) we observed were of two types; both resident and transient whales were out hunting today. Soon after we left a group of about 200 leaping Pacific white-sided dolphins, we encountered our first group of killer whales. Transient killer whales eat mammals, and usually hunt in small, nearly silent packs. Some researchers call them the wolves of the sea. The resident killer whales are fish eaters, and generally, like the local human population, they prefer sockeye salmon. Residents are more vocal animals and their pods are usually larger than the transient groups. Today we watched about nine of these beautiful large dolphins travel slowly along the shoreline. We silently wished them good hunting as the season’s wild salmon runs in this area are at an all time low.
Our journey now takes us south toward Seymour Narrows, away from the mists of this special place. With us we can carry the indomitable spirits of these people of the salmon, the redcedar and the killer whale.
Alert Bay’s First Nation people welcomed the National Geographic Sea Lion, the last ship of the year, with their well-known spirit of openness and authenticity. Theirs is a culture of giving and sharing; dancing their joy in knowing who they are after thousands of years of living on this land. The U’mista Cultural Center houses the Potlatch Collection, a stunning group of beautifully carved, old cedar masks that have been repatriated long after they were confiscated from an ill-fated potlatch held in 1921. Our guided visit there certainly added to our knowledge of the art and ceremony of the Kwakwaka’wakw. Up the hill in the extraordinary Big House, the school age dance group gave us a taste of their major Potlatch dances. Dressed in stunning regalia, the dancers twirled about the central fire as did their ancestors before them. We watched young hamatsas, the weather dance, and a peace dance complete with eagle down floating from the dancers’ regal headdresses to land gently on the floor. The last dance, the fun dance, had everyone in the house moving to the beat of the log drum.
In just a few hours of cruising in sunny Johnstone Strait this afternoon, we observed seven marine mammal species! The currents of this area squeezing through and between the inlets and islands are very dramatic and many areas have swirling water and surface chop. The swift and tumbling waters cause a mixing of nutrients and help create a rich planktonic broth upon which small fishes feed. Those masses of small schooling fish support large colonies of seabirds, harbor seals, Steller or northern sea lions, Dall’s and harbor porpoise, Pacific white-sided dolphin and large mammals like humpback whales.
The orca (Orcinus orca) we observed were of two types; both resident and transient whales were out hunting today. Soon after we left a group of about 200 leaping Pacific white-sided dolphins, we encountered our first group of killer whales. Transient killer whales eat mammals, and usually hunt in small, nearly silent packs. Some researchers call them the wolves of the sea. The resident killer whales are fish eaters, and generally, like the local human population, they prefer sockeye salmon. Residents are more vocal animals and their pods are usually larger than the transient groups. Today we watched about nine of these beautiful large dolphins travel slowly along the shoreline. We silently wished them good hunting as the season’s wild salmon runs in this area are at an all time low.
Our journey now takes us south toward Seymour Narrows, away from the mists of this special place. With us we can carry the indomitable spirits of these people of the salmon, the redcedar and the killer whale.
