Inside Passage BC
Orcas, Sea Birds & Natural History
Itinerary
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
-- Mark Twain
Board the Sea Wolf at Port McNeill, BC
Day 1-4: Once aboard we head to Alert Bay. We are spending 3 nights and 4 days exploring this area because this is where the BC Orca whales feed and play.
Alert Bay is historically significant as the oldest community on North Vancouver Island, and is well known as a centre for the powerful resurgence of Native culture. Native history and culture are very important parts of the Alert Bay identity. The Kwakwaka’wakw have been instrumental in spearheading a movement to reclaim their birthright to traditional art, dances, songs, legends, ceremonies, and language. The U’mista Cultural Centre is an internationally known facility that houses one of the finest collections of historical artifacts depicting the Potlatch Ceremony of the Kwakwaka’wakw.
The waters of Johnstone strait are amazing for the variety of marine life and the tidal currents. Vivid images of a protected inner ocean rise from above and below the surface of the water. South of Johnstone Strait is the ecological reserve of Robson Bight, where up to 200 Orcas arrive each summer and fall to rub on gravel beaches at the mouth of the Tsitika River. We are hoping to also visit the research station on Hansen Island. Throughout this journey we will be using our underwater camera and hydro phone to hear and see the orcas underwater.
Bald eagles sit atop giant cedar trees, belted kingfishers dive from the air going under the surface and emerging with a silvery fish in their beaks. Harbor Seals haul out on rocky outcrops, Stellar's sea lions feed in the tide, and Dall porpoises sometimes come to bow ride inches beneath the surface of the water, black and white, their sleek bodies darting back and forth, exhaling and inhaling simultaneously, diving and resurfacing with ease. Humpback whale "blows" can be seen from miles away, lingering as sea smoke. Harbor seals and seal pups can also be seen.
A list of possible species sightings:
- Regal Bald Eagles
- Orcas
- Dall's Porpoises
- Seabirds by the hundreds
- Harbor Porpoises
- Minke Whales
- Stellar's Sea Lions
- Grey whales
- Humpback Whales
- California Sea Lions
- Playful Pacific White-sided Dolphins
- Black Bears feeding on the beaches
- Deer
- Rhinoceros Auklets
- Pigeon Guillemots
- Harlequin Ducks
- Sooty Shearwaters
At one of these anchorages we can spend an afternoon kayaking the shores and exploring the native Kwakwaka'waka village of Mamalilaculla, an island village in the Broughton Archipelago. Now abandoned, the native village is a fascinating site, evidencing traditional cedar house posts of the Kwakwaka'waka period and later post-European dwellings. When the dominion government and missionaries conspired to outlaw the potlatch in 1884, masks, drums, carvings, coppers and other potlatch articles were confiscated and removed to museums in central Canada. Mamalilaculla was the scene of one such raid in 1921. Since returned, these magnificent symbols of Kwakwaka'waka heritage and culture are now on display at the U'mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay.
Day 5:Desolation Sound
Prideaux Haven is one of the most beautiful anchorages in Desolation Sound. This is a marvelous place to explore by kayak, paddling among small coves, inlets and islands. Ashore, interesting tidal pools and marshes will enthrall you with an abundance of marine organisms, birds and waterfowl. Steep evergreen mountains, all teeming with the wildest of wildlife, surround the pristine waters of Desolation Sound. One of the prime attractions of these waters is their warmth in summer months, which makes them ideal for swimming and snorkeling. The scenery is less severe than many of the other sheer-sided waterways along the central coast, although just as majestic. Snowcapped peaks of the Coast Mountains soar from the tide line to heights of 7,875 feet (2400 m).
Day 6 Saturday Ganges Market and then into Bellingham
Ganges Market: Vendors must "make it, bake it, or grow it" themselves.
This simple mandate is the essence of the market. Visitors are treated to exclusively local creations stemming from Salt Spring's unique brand of "island ingenuity". Highest caliber creativity and production standards make Salt Spring Island home to the greatest collection of artists in Canada. Enjoy meeting more than 100 artisans of all types; contributors to Salt Spring’s international reputation as a hotbed of fine world-class artists and organic farmers.
Bellingham Customs and folks can stay there or catch a flight/shuttle bus to Seattle.