It’s Friday night and there isn’t a soul around, save for an elderly humpback whale who flirts with our Coastal Craft yacht in Canada’s Bute Inlet. She huffs a spout of water in the foreground, then flicks her tail in a “British Columbia goodbye.” “If you’re tired of humpbacks, you’re tired of life,” sighs our French naturalist guide Laura Gly, who was drawn to this region—as many are—by the lure of wildlife. People are well outnumbered by the humpbacks and pods of orcas, bald eagles and herons, seals and sea lions grunting their tone-deaf tunes atop the rocks. Then there are the bears, grizzlies and black giving the Great Bear Rainforest its cred, guarded by the First Nations people whose land we’re exploring. We had just come from a guided bear viewing with members of the Homalco tribe, who showed us how to “walk with marshmallow feet” (aka tread softly) up..
