Davie's Whaling Station, Tofino workplace is both a stop on Tofino’s waterfront and the working home of Leon Anawak and Susan Stringer. Its place in the story joins the rhythms of a small tourist business to Anawak’s larger scientific ambitions: he has made a life in the landscape around Vancouver Island, yet increasingly imagines leaving it.

Setting and Appearance

When Leon Anawak brings passengers back through Clayoquot Sound, Tofino’s waterfront comes into view: houses stand on stilts, and Davie's Whaling Station is on the wharf. The returning group is disappointed by an afternoon that has offered little excitement; another group of would-be adventurers is already waiting outside. The scene places the station at the meeting point between the town and the water, where excursions begin and end.

The business also has a more settled presence on the road into Tofino. Davie's Whaling Station is a timber building with a red roof, sheltered terrace, front lawn, and a seven-metre cedar whale-fluke totem. Pine forest presses close behind it. The surrounding coast—its beaches, marshes, rivers, coves, and old-growth trees—draws tourists, who may also see gray whales, otters, or sea lions. The station’s whale emblem and its setting make the natural world both part of the local identity and central to the attraction offered to visitors.

A Small Business and Its Staff

Inside, the station is described as cosy and crowded with handmade objects, souvenirs, clothing, and books. Susan Stringer manages the office; one day she is restocking the plastic leaflet holders when she jokes to Anawak that, if business does not improve, they may all be out of work and should offer squirrel-watching instead. Her remark registers the practical stakes of a disappointing day: the station depends on giving visitors an excursion worth paying for, and bad business threatens the livelihoods of its staff.

Tom Shoemaker manages Davie's Whaling Station. After Stringer raises a possibility that might persuade Anawak to stay, he says he will think it over, but the prospect does not erase his reluctance to tie himself to a workplace he is trying to leave. He remains at the office to deal with customers until Shoemaker takes over, a small routine that shows how his scientific career and his current service work occupy the same life.

Anawak’s Work and Uncertain Future

Anawak first took a job at the station to finance his studies, as Stringer had. But the arrangement lasted: four years after completing his doctorate, he was still working for Davie. In the meantime, he had spent several summers writing a pioneering book on intelligence and social bonding among marine mammals. His research had brought him respect from experts, established him as a rising scientific figure, and begun to attract offers of better-paid work.

That recognition sharpens the contrast between the life the station makes possible and the life Anawak expects to pursue. The comfortable routine and wild surroundings no longer give his future a clear shape; he anticipates a lectureship or research position at a major institute, with specialist publications and conference travel. Davie's Whaling Station is therefore more than a scenic workplace: it marks the provisional life he has built on Vancouver Island, even as the work that may take him away grows harder to ignore.

Narrative Significance

The station brings Anawak’s professional standing into contact with the unglamorous conditions of everyday employment. His research concerns marine mammals, while his job places him among visitors hoping for an encounter with the coast’s wildlife. The juxtaposition makes the station a fitting threshold between scientific knowledge and public curiosity, without resolving Anawak’s own choice about where he belongs. Its rooted, familiar setting stands against the more mobile future he imagines, and the tension remains open.