The ocean laps with the gentlest rhythm, and the sun gradually resumes its familiar place on the rocky horizon. We set out yesterday on one of these peaceful Great Bear mornings for our first whale survey as interns. Light had just begun to dust the cedar branches, and the ocean had only the most delicate of wrinkles. We slowly made our way up Squally Channel – one of the proposed routes for the Enbridge tankers -- hoping to spot the curve of a dorsal fin or any indication of whales in our midst.

The morning is always the most beautiful part of the day in the Great Bear. Dawn creeps over the mountains in the early hours, softly igniting the landscape with pale hues – blues and greens and purples. As colour returns to Gil Island, the noisy laughter of ravens breaks the morning silence. Life slowly begins to quiver.