We woke up this morning to a stunning sunrise as we docked at the village of Queen Charlotte. It was quite the welcome, as we began one of the main cultural highlights of the expedition here at Haida Gwaii. We spent the first part of our day touring the Haida Heritage Centre. There, we learned about the culture and history of the Haida as we walked through the museum and listened to the stories behind each of the totem poles outside the facility. After another delicious lunch aboard National Geographic Sea Bird, we enjoyed a beautiful hike on Spirit Lake Trail. We learned about many of the endemic plants and their uses from our Haida Gwaii cultural interpreter, Linda Tollas. Following dinner, Linda gave an insightful presentation on the cedar tree’s significance to her beautiful ancestral homeland.
4/30/2024
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National Geographic Sea Lion
Morris Reef, Lake Eva, and Cruising
Truth be told, the last day aboard any National Geographic/Lindblad ship feels incredible and is always special, but personally, I don’t think I have ever had a more magical last day aboard National Geographic Sea Lion . The early morning started off spectacularly, as a dozen killer whales were spotted cruising near our ship. A handful of juveniles would surface with their rostrums rising above the surface of the water. Seeing this many killer whales once would have been amazing on its own, but we managed to also see killer whales on the first day of the trip, creating a perfect bookend finish. After recap, our captain started sailing us to our anchorage for the night when at least a dozen blows were seen at a distance. Most assumed it was humpback whales, but as we neared, we realized we still hadn’t seen a dorsal fin, and the spouts seemed a little stouter than usual for humpbacks. It wasn’t until a whale surfaced close enough to the ship that we realized the white splotches and knuckles were that of a gray whale! We did not expect to see them in this cove, and it just added to the awe and wonder of our amazing expedition.