Ahoy Canada! In the wee hours of the night, National Geographic Sea Bird crossed into Canadian waters, where we will spend the next five days of our voyage as we continue down the coast towards Seattle. This morning we woke up in the area of Dixon Entrance, which is the international boundary between Alaska and the province of British Columbia. We spent our morning cruising around the area searching for wildlife, and we fortuitously encountered several Dahl’s porpoises that began bow riding on the ship. While nobody knows the true reason these animals will ride the ships wake, the general consensus is that they are engaging in playful activity, which is always a delight to see here on board! They spent several minutes leaping through the waves of our bow wake, providing an excellent opportunity to photograph the animals from a birds-eye view.
After lunchtime, we arrived at the border city of Prince Rupert, a major fishing port and the western terminus of the Canadian Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad. The ship anchored off shore and we deployed the expedition landing craft to shuttle across to the adjacent customs office, and after clearance we spent the afternoon exploring the Museum of Northern British Columbia, which has a fantastic display of northwest native art. After poking around the museum for an hour or so, we enjoyed some relaxing time in the town as many of us found ourselves in small cafes while others enjoyed the opportunity to do some local shopping. It was a beautiful sunny day and it was a great opportunity to get some fresh air and stretch our legs off the boat. Once back on board National Geographic Sea Bird we set our course towards Hecate Straight where we will spend our night crossing over to the islands of Haida Gwaii.
