A yellow catamaran started filling up with excited chatters and wet footsteps as tourists strolled in hoping to spot whales in the prosperous Canadian waters.
Staff from Prince Rupert’s Adventure Tours guided the voyagers stopping by on their way to Alaska through the types of marine life they could expect to see.
Humpback whales are commonly found along BC’s northwest coastline, while the North Pacific right whales are the rarest. This whale species is critically endangered, mainly because of human activity. As per the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, approximately 30 individuals are estimated remain and are infrequent visitors in Alaskan waters.
Adventure Tours experienced a beautiful season this year, with about 30 tourist ships stopping to tour with them. Captain Doug Davis, the company’s founder, said the extra sunny weather benefitted tourists this summer. However, if it rains more, they will likely see more whales.
The vessel’s engine rumbled as we descended onto the blue abyss.
We passed the ancient village of Metlakatla First Nation, a community of the Tsm'syen people. A genome investigation published in Nature Communications reported that the Coast Tsm'syen population dramatically declined after the arrival of European settlers who brought diseases such as smallpox with them.
A tour guide explained that about 100 inhabitants live on that land now, while this northwest Pacific coast stretch was once the most populous coastline in North America before contact. The genome study also found that the settlement done 175 years ago caused a “reduction in effective population size of 57 percent.”
Next, we saw a pass that our tour guide said was once abundant in eulachon and sea otters in the 18th and 19th centuries. Unfortunately, several shipmasters and the Hudson Bay Company heavily fished out the eulachon for commercial trade and diminished its population.
The eulachon was a traditional staple in the coastal Indigenous people’s culture; it served social and ceremonial purposes, and the oil they extracted helped make candles. As per Oceana Canada, certain regions have seen a complete loss of spawning populations as the eulachon fail to return to their natal rivers to spawn.
Sea otters experienced a similar fate. According to the Vancouver Maritime Museum, dozens of ships traded in the Pacific Northwest for sea otter pelts, selling the pelts in China for fur coats. The trade was extremely lucrative, and within 30 years, sea otters were wiped out from the stretch between Northern California and Alaska.
“Last year was the first time we saw sea otters returning to this area since they disappeared in the region,” said Matthew, our tour guide, happily.
We felt the vessel coming to a halt as the captain announced there were humpbacks nearby. Then, we saw the majestic breach of a frequently seen whale they named Aurora. It leapt up, exuding a vast mist of water from its nostrils and splashing down, slowly exposing its tail, – which can be 18-feet wide.
Matthew said that sometimes, that mist comes out at a speed of 300km/hour. Humpback pods often memorize 20-minute-long songs to woe a mate during the breeding season. If they come close to the boat, its smell can be unbearably strong for humans, he said.
As we continued our journey, tiny Lucy Island appeared to our left. Unlike other lighthouses, the one here shined a red light instead of a white one to protect birds from crashing into it.
To our surprise, a gang of sea lions showed up, seemingly playing around with each other as it started pouring rain. Other animals we encountered were bald eagles, dolphins, and ducks.
A mass of uniquely sedimented rocks revealed itself, with some looking like human faces in their side profile.
The all-encompassing expedition, the last of the season for Adventure Tours, was filled with diverse cultural experiences and marine life.
