After a relatively smooth sail across the Hecate Strait overnight, the National Geographic Sea Bird arrived at Albion Dock in Queen Charlotte City. Elsie Gale and her son, Captain, joined us for breakfast aboard ship. Elsie is of the Ts'aahlth Laanaas Stastas Gitlun clan from Hydaburg, Alaska, which is the most northern of Haida villages.
Once we’d eaten we boarded a school bus for a tour of the Haida Heritage Center and Museum, where we saw cultural artifacts and totems with interpretive tours. We even saw a humpback whale surface just off shore under the totems, which was a very special treat.
In the afternoon we went hiking with naturalists and photo instructors at the Spirit Lake Trail rain forest. We toured the ecology of the forest and viewed bald eagles overhead before returning to the Sea Bird for whale watching. We were thrilled to see a mother gray whale and calf feeding closely to the ship.
