One of the tenants of the ship industry, at least where it pertains to paying guests on board a ship, is to “follow the sun to escape the heat.” The Sea Bird recently left Baja California and has begun her first expedition of the spring season on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Our first day on the ship was full of activities. We began by locking through John Day Dam which still possess the deepest lock chamber in the world. It will soon be overshadowed by the Three Gorges Dam currently being built in China. Once through the lock chamber and after a mandatory ship board drill we enjoyed a presentation by our resident historian Tom McAllister.

After lunch we had another presentation, this time it was edible botanicals by Linda Burback. She did a great job describing the plants that were first introduced to western science by the Corps of Discovery and how they tasted. The idea of food and tastiness continued later in the afternoon during our wine and food sampling of the Pacific Northwest. This was at the conclusion of another lockage, this time through the McNary Dam.

One of the sights during the day was a view of the American white pelican. These magnificent birds concentrate along the river in the spring during their migration north and east. The bird pictured here shows the strong black colored wing tips that many sea birds possess.

It was a great sighting during a great first day on the Columbia River.