I’m in Tofino this week – one of my favourite places in the world – and went on a day-long boat trip out of nearby Ucluelet to the Broken Group Islands with Archipelago Wildlife Cruises.

The Broken Group is a group of small islands and islets in the middle of Barkley Sound on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, BC. The group is protected as the Broken Islands Group Unit of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Benson Island, on the northwest corner of the Broken Group, is an important cultural site for the Tseshaht First Nation. The weather was perfect and the scenery was amazingly beautiful.

There were loads of bald eagles …

Seals and sea otters …. with sea otters making a come back in this area to the benefit of the whole ecosystem (sea otters eat oysters which helps maintain healthy kelp beds and so on) …

And, my favourite, the sea lions!  Wish I could have recorded the sound of their grumpy barking and grunting. So awesome. 🙂

We had a lovely lunch on the upper deck, with some hummingbirds, who came to snack with us.

Altogether, a great day of sun and sea and wildlife.