Sunset over Johnstone Strait, British Columbia ended another truly memorable day for Sea Lion guests. It started early, with exciting looks at three transient killer whales as they hugged the misty shoreline of Vancouver Island in search of harbor seals and porpoises. A massive concentration of seabirds followed -- upwards of 3,000 feeding and resting on tide-churned waters. Identified were sooty and short-tailed shearwaters, kittiwakes, gulls, auklets, murres and a possible Manx shearwater.
After lunch we were guests in the Big House of the Kwaakwaka'wakw people of Alert Bay, where we enjoyed a performance of their traditional dances, followed by a walk in their Environmental Park and a tour of their U'mista Cultural Centre.
Our second encounter of the day with killer whales happened just before sunset, and involved eight members of two northern resident pods. Among them were three adult males with their 5- to 6-foot dorsal fins.
