Alert Bay
This morning the fog was thick as the ship made her approach to Alert Bay on Cormorant Island near the north end of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The tide was low which gave us a good look at the intertidal creatures on the dock pilings. A nice leg stretch along Front Street put us at the Umista Cultural Center. This center holds a great array of historic artifacts taken from the First Nations Peoples many decades ago. Once the artifacts were returned they are now on public display for all to enjoy. It is one of the best collections of pre and post contact wooden art anywhere in Canada.
After the museum visit there was a chance to go to their impressive big house to see a local performance of song and dance that the children performed with great passion and reverence for their past. It was a quick walk back to the ship for we had many miles to go this afternoon.
Unfortunately for our schedule, killer whales made an appearance and changed our future plans slightly. They were spotted in Johnstone straight which is a hot spot for killer whales in late summer as these salmon eating whales are following the fish runs. We spent a good portion of the afternoon watching them move across the sound towards Robson Bight, which is well known to whale researchers as a rubbing beach for these largest of the dolphin group. Boats are asked not to follow them into the beach, so we made our way south towards tomorrow’s adventure back into the USA.
This morning the fog was thick as the ship made her approach to Alert Bay on Cormorant Island near the north end of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The tide was low which gave us a good look at the intertidal creatures on the dock pilings. A nice leg stretch along Front Street put us at the Umista Cultural Center. This center holds a great array of historic artifacts taken from the First Nations Peoples many decades ago. Once the artifacts were returned they are now on public display for all to enjoy. It is one of the best collections of pre and post contact wooden art anywhere in Canada.
After the museum visit there was a chance to go to their impressive big house to see a local performance of song and dance that the children performed with great passion and reverence for their past. It was a quick walk back to the ship for we had many miles to go this afternoon.
Unfortunately for our schedule, killer whales made an appearance and changed our future plans slightly. They were spotted in Johnstone straight which is a hot spot for killer whales in late summer as these salmon eating whales are following the fish runs. We spent a good portion of the afternoon watching them move across the sound towards Robson Bight, which is well known to whale researchers as a rubbing beach for these largest of the dolphin group. Boats are asked not to follow them into the beach, so we made our way south towards tomorrow’s adventure back into the USA.
