For over a decade, Pacific Wild’s crew has boarded S.V. Habitat, to chase one of the most awe-inspiring natural events on the coast: the spring herring spawn. It’s a trip of a lifetime—an opportunity to witness and document the spectacle itself, and the incredible gathering of life that comes to feed on the herring and their roe.
The boat is packed with gear for every possibility—dive suits, camera rigs, long lenses—anything we might need to capture the thrilling moments when the coast transforms into a frenzy of motion and colour.
Pacific Wild co-founder and captain, Ian McAllister, is an award-winning wildlife photographer and filmmaker who brings decades of experience both above and below the surface. He also brings a sharp sense of humour and a wealth of knowledge—we’ll get to that in a bit.
But this voyage, we were in for a different ride than other seasons. The bow of the boat was equipped with a high-performance SHOTOVER—a powerful, gyro-stabilized camera housing designed to capture cinematic, high-speed footage. Typically these units are mounted on the belly of a helicopter, but for this trip we were going to film from sea level.
Inside the housing lives a Freefly Ember capable of shooting 800 frames per second—all without disturbing wildlife. A true game-changer.
And we weren’t just chasing herring—we were testing the boundaries of wildlife cinematography with this gear.
The journey began on a bluebird day, but storms and an atmospheric river loomed in the forecast. Still, we took it all in stride—waiting it out when needed, tied up to a dock or anchored in a sheltered cove, protected from the worst of the storms.
But when we could push on, we did—hugging the coast, eyes and cameras scanning the water, searching for ‘the shot’.
The first day of high seas was rough—but only for the newcomers. Ginger and Gravol were no match for the seasickness. As rain hammered down on our heads and cameras, and waves pounded the hull, Ian jokingly blasted Riders on the Storm by The Doors. For a few minutes, we laughed—forgetting we were being tossed around.
“Keep your eyes on the horizon”, we reminded each other, clinging to the old-age trick of preventing nausea.
And then—just like the magic we had set out to capture, the rain broke and the sun emerged—shining down on a quiet cove filled with gray whales, feeding on herring roe.
The entire trip was filled with intense moments—storms, technical issues, seasickness—but also bursts of pure joy as we documented sea lions, whales, bears, and even sea wolves.
In the evenings, we charged our camera batteries, uploaded footage, and ate like kings, thanks to an old propane stove and our incredible Project Manager–slash–chef. Pad thai and chimichurri mushroom burgers, made from scratch, quickly became crew favourites.
And after long days on the water, we’d unwind by listening to Ian share the rich history of the coast—his stories backed by classics from The Cranberries, crackling through the boat’s speakers as we warmed up and excitedly got ready to do it all again the next day.
