Cruising Johnstone Strait, visit to Alert Bay
The storm from the south had finally caught up with the Sea Lion as she continued her cruise north in Johnstone Strait. Just after breakfast our first mate Rick turned slightly northeast through Blackney Pass into Blackfish Sound. Our morning search for marine mammals was under way, even though weather conditions made spotting blows extremely difficult. Behind the Sea Lion the wind was hollowing up Johnstone Strait creating an extremely strong fetch across the water. The term fetch refers to the distance wind can travel over water with greater distances equaling larger waves. Johnstone Strait is just that kind of long narrow body of water separating Vancouver Island from the mainland of British Columbia. Naturalists were on the bow searching for marine mammals as tops of the waves blew off the water, in long strands of spray, adding to the atmosphere of storm! Then a blow was spotted. For the next two hours, we followed the dives, tail lobbing and distant breaches of three humpback whales. It is unusual to see humpbacks in this area of the Northwest Coast, so our first mate Rick maneuvered expertly, keeping the Sea Lion in close proximity to the whales as we enjoyed many dives with great displays of descending flukes covered in the spray of the storm.
At approximately 10:30am, Captain Graves made an announcement from the bridge concerning the increasing storm conditions. The Expedition leader and Captain had decided that sustained winds in excess of 40 knots were going to create an incredibly uncomfortable passage, and our best plan of action was to retreat to the shelter of the harbor in Alert Bay, on Cormorant Island. Our afternoon was planned for a stop in this community and our arrival was made slightly early, which allowed a quiet and safe place to wait out the high winds of Johnstone Strait. In preparation for our visit to Alert Bay, naturalist Sharon Grainger invited us all to the lounge for a presentation on Northwest coast culture and art. Sharon’s photographic images mixed the dramatic landscape of the northwest coast with stories of the diverse populations that call this rugged coastline their home. She explained the connection between landscape, art and tools, all of which provide the perfect materials and backdrop for the foundation of a complex culture and art form.
Our hosts in Alert Bay were the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations. Just after lunch, many of us braved the wind and rain and enjoyed a chance for a twenty-minute walk through town, making our way to the U’mista Cultural Center. Opened in 1980, this museum houses one of the finest collections of elaborately carved masks and regalia, depicting the Potlatch Ceremony of the Kwakwaka’wakw. The collection represents the repatriation of Potlatch regalia taken by the Canadian government from a potlatch given on Village Island in 1921. The community of Alert Bay never forgot the loss of these valuable objects and in the 1960’s began petitioning the central government in Ottawa to bring their regalia home. The Canadian government stipulated a condition for the return of these precious objects; the building of a museum to house the collection. Among the Kwakwaka’wakw, a ransom can be paid for the return of items or captive family members taken during a raid. In the Kwak’wala language, the word for the payment of ransom is U’mista.
After our tour of the museum, we made our way east through town to the Gukwdzi or Big House where we were greeted and welcomed by the T’sasala Cultural Group. During the next hour, our MC Andrea Cranmer told the story of founding this group with her sister Barbara and mother Vera and the cultural group’s growth over the last ten years.
Around the central fire, figures circled sharing traditional dances from the cedar bark and peace dances of the Potlatch Ceremony. A favorite for many of us was the salmon dance. As the youngest girls danced with their mothers and aunties, eagle feathers in their hands, we understood the importance of this great resource, the salmon. Smoke filtered up through the opening in the top of the Big House taking prayers of gratitude on the eagle feathers the dancers held, to the creator. It had been a good salmon harvest this year in Alert Bay. It had been a good summer season of dancing for T’sasala Cultural Group and as the fall storms prepared to hit the northwest coast, many of us felt lucky to have shared in this visual feast.
The storm from the south had finally caught up with the Sea Lion as she continued her cruise north in Johnstone Strait. Just after breakfast our first mate Rick turned slightly northeast through Blackney Pass into Blackfish Sound. Our morning search for marine mammals was under way, even though weather conditions made spotting blows extremely difficult. Behind the Sea Lion the wind was hollowing up Johnstone Strait creating an extremely strong fetch across the water. The term fetch refers to the distance wind can travel over water with greater distances equaling larger waves. Johnstone Strait is just that kind of long narrow body of water separating Vancouver Island from the mainland of British Columbia. Naturalists were on the bow searching for marine mammals as tops of the waves blew off the water, in long strands of spray, adding to the atmosphere of storm! Then a blow was spotted. For the next two hours, we followed the dives, tail lobbing and distant breaches of three humpback whales. It is unusual to see humpbacks in this area of the Northwest Coast, so our first mate Rick maneuvered expertly, keeping the Sea Lion in close proximity to the whales as we enjoyed many dives with great displays of descending flukes covered in the spray of the storm.
At approximately 10:30am, Captain Graves made an announcement from the bridge concerning the increasing storm conditions. The Expedition leader and Captain had decided that sustained winds in excess of 40 knots were going to create an incredibly uncomfortable passage, and our best plan of action was to retreat to the shelter of the harbor in Alert Bay, on Cormorant Island. Our afternoon was planned for a stop in this community and our arrival was made slightly early, which allowed a quiet and safe place to wait out the high winds of Johnstone Strait. In preparation for our visit to Alert Bay, naturalist Sharon Grainger invited us all to the lounge for a presentation on Northwest coast culture and art. Sharon’s photographic images mixed the dramatic landscape of the northwest coast with stories of the diverse populations that call this rugged coastline their home. She explained the connection between landscape, art and tools, all of which provide the perfect materials and backdrop for the foundation of a complex culture and art form.
Our hosts in Alert Bay were the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations. Just after lunch, many of us braved the wind and rain and enjoyed a chance for a twenty-minute walk through town, making our way to the U’mista Cultural Center. Opened in 1980, this museum houses one of the finest collections of elaborately carved masks and regalia, depicting the Potlatch Ceremony of the Kwakwaka’wakw. The collection represents the repatriation of Potlatch regalia taken by the Canadian government from a potlatch given on Village Island in 1921. The community of Alert Bay never forgot the loss of these valuable objects and in the 1960’s began petitioning the central government in Ottawa to bring their regalia home. The Canadian government stipulated a condition for the return of these precious objects; the building of a museum to house the collection. Among the Kwakwaka’wakw, a ransom can be paid for the return of items or captive family members taken during a raid. In the Kwak’wala language, the word for the payment of ransom is U’mista.
After our tour of the museum, we made our way east through town to the Gukwdzi or Big House where we were greeted and welcomed by the T’sasala Cultural Group. During the next hour, our MC Andrea Cranmer told the story of founding this group with her sister Barbara and mother Vera and the cultural group’s growth over the last ten years.
Around the central fire, figures circled sharing traditional dances from the cedar bark and peace dances of the Potlatch Ceremony. A favorite for many of us was the salmon dance. As the youngest girls danced with their mothers and aunties, eagle feathers in their hands, we understood the importance of this great resource, the salmon. Smoke filtered up through the opening in the top of the Big House taking prayers of gratitude on the eagle feathers the dancers held, to the creator. It had been a good salmon harvest this year in Alert Bay. It had been a good summer season of dancing for T’sasala Cultural Group and as the fall storms prepared to hit the northwest coast, many of us felt lucky to have shared in this visual feast.
