For the next three days you’ll enjoy an adventurous and luxurious balance of daily excursions aboard Passing Cloud to witness the herring spawn and grey whale migration, along with all the other wildlife that congregates here with it. You’ll also have plenty of time to enjoy Outer Shores Lodge’s amenities, morning and afternoon self-guided activities (like beach and forest walks, birdwatching, photography, and panoramic views from “the bluff”), the community of Bamfield, wonderful chef-prepared meals, and evening educational presentations.

Each day after breakfast (~8:30 AM), we’ll embark on Passing Cloud for a leisurely cruise some 15 nautical miles (~ 26 km) to the northwest shoreline of Barkley Sound, the region’s historic centre of the herring spawning and everything that comes with it. There we’ll explore, keeping an eye out for both the large greenish-white plumes of water that indicate where the herring spawning is taking place, and all the coastal wildlife that typically accompanies this incredible natural phenomenon. 

To get a closer look, we’ll board our inflatable skiffs and watch for massive flocks of surf scoters, as well as gulls, eagles, and other seabirds, like murres, auklets, cormorants, and grebes. We’ll also be on the lookout for the California and Steller sea lions that frequently gather here in huge numbers to feast on herring while also staying vigilant in their watch for the killer whales that show up to hunt them.

Meanwhile, grey whales on their way to the Bering Sea stop by to slurp herring eggs off the seagrasses and seaweeds. And finally, we’ll be watching for the land mammals, like black bears and wolves, who arrive on the scene to eat the herring eggs when they get exposed during low tides.

Each day we’ll take a new route through the Broken Group and Deer Groups Islands, learning about the remarkable natural and cultural history of Barkley Sound and Pacific Rim National Park Reserve along the way.