The day dawned bright and crisp. We entered Blackfish Sound and spotted a pod of killer whales hassling a Steller sea lion. The whales were keeping the sea lion in the middle of the pod and maneuvering him back and forth. He finally escaped and swam to a large colony of sea lions that were making a huge racket. We later saw the killer whales trying to corner a Pacific white-sided dolphin, so we assumed they were the sea mammal-eating Biggs Pod.
We were later proved wrong when we saw the killer whales eating fish. They left the sea mammals alone and put on a great show for those on board National Geographic Sea Bird. As we watched the killer whale pod, all around us were humpbacks feeding, harbor porpoises, sea lions, and Pacific white-sided dolphins.
Our day continued on an upward spiral as we docked in Alert Bay to meet the Kwakwaka'wakw people. We toured the U’mista Cultural Centre where we heard the flood story of the Namgis tribe and enjoyed the repatriated collection of old potlach regalia. The items were confiscated by the Canadian government in 1911 and returned (in part) in 2002. We also heard music by drummers and singers preparing for a potlatch. Another great day aboard National Geographic Sea Bird!
