Guests awoke in Canadian waters as National Geographic Sea Bird made its way towards Prince Rupert, British Columbia. While we waited to clear customs, Caitlyn Webster presented her excellent underwater footage from Misty Fjords National Monument that included some recently ransomed visual aids that give a stegosaurus sense of scale in her shots.
After reaching the dock, guests were able to explore the quirky and brightly colored waterfront of the city of Prince Rupert including the Museum of Northern British Columbia. The museum houses some treasures from the Pacific Northwest coast including many cultural artifacts from the tribes of British Columbia. Later in the afternoon the photo team led a “Colors of Prince Rupert” walk where photographers were asked to focus their lenses on the many brightly colored landmarks dotting the town.
As Sea Bird set sail for Haida Gwaii, David Stephens enthralled the guests with an interactive and informative talk titled Native Art and Culture of the Northwest Coast. When David is not on the ships working as a naturalist, he is interpreting the experience of the Pacific Northwest through his world-class art. All aboard feel lucky to have his expertise as we head into Haida Gwaii.
As our damp first day in British Columbia drew to a close, guests were treated to a hilarious blow-by-blow recounting of the mysterious case of the missing dinosaurs, by expedition leader John Mitchell. It was revealed that senior deckhand Marlowe Brennan–one of the few crew that had NOT been accused of a hand in the mischief - had in fact been responsible for the disappearance of the dinos. A plot twist nobody saw coming!
