Hola Amigos - feliz Cinco de Mayo! Oh wait, wrong country, eh? What the heck, we’ll celebrate anyway and it’s a good excuse to have a Mexican fiesta lunch buffet as we cruise through the beauty of coastal British Columbia, Canada.
After departing the evening before from our home port of Seattle, our ship of exploration, National Geographic Sea Lion, proceeded through the San Juan Islands overnight in failing light and rainy skies. That couldn’t dampen our spirits though, as we are so excited about being underway on our two-week expedition through coastal BC, Haida Gwaii and Southeast Alaska. What an incredible adventure awaits us!
We made Nanaimo on Vancouver Island in order to clear Canadian customs early in the morning. Continuing on, we steamed up the Strait of Georgia to the east of Texada Island. The further northwest we went the more brilliant the day became; until finally, it was bright sunshine! Fleece and rain gear started peeling off – it was so warm that it was almost weather for shorts!
During the day, presentations by photo instructor Sharon Grainger (introduction to photo basics with breakout hands-on sessions) and naturalist Andy Szabo (killer whales) proved not only instructive but inspiring as well. We want to see orca and we’re ready to take pictures!
A pile of seabirds just above the ocean surface alerted us to a nearby feeding frenzy. Herring no doubt, crowded together in a bait ball attempting to be safe by getting to the middle of the spherical configuration. Joining in the frenzy were about a dozen bald eagles, both mature an immature as differentiated by their plumage. Although their white heads and tail feathers said some had seniority, that didn’t count at the feeding table as it was every bird for themselves. So amazing to see a bald eagle burdened down with fish trying to “swim’ by beating its wings against the ocean surface in an attempt to distance itself from the frenzy and take flight back to shore.
Later as we entered Desolation Sound a small pride of Steller (northern) sea lions was spotted hauled out on a nearby rocky outcropping. Taking advantage of the afternoon sun, these largest of all the sea lions were drying out and warming up before their hunting activities started at dusk.
Then it happened – our fervent wishes were fulfilled! Right in the middle of answering a follow-up question during evening recap, the call was made: “Orca! Orca! Orca!” Dinner was postponed because we had found what looked like two pods of northern residents totaling seven individuals. Amongst them was a youngster, maybe a year or less old. Hopefully photo ID shots of their saddle patches will allow us to identify the pod members and report our sighting to local researchers.
A beautiful sunset capped off a perfect first day on our migratory trip north to Southeast Alaska. We could only wonder what Mother Nature has in store for us tomorrow.
