Today we had an incredible time on what our expedition leader called, “The mobile academy of learning and exploration.” We had four inspiring presentations by our natural history staff as well as watched a movie on local Kwakwaka’wakw totem carver, Beau Dick.
In between learning about our environment, we searched for wildlife on the bow, finding the second largest whale in the world, fin whales.
We finished our day with specialty cocktails and appetizers before having a delicious dinner prepared by our galley team.
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“Glacier Bay Day” is a naturalist’s delight, with its beautiful landscapes, plentiful wildlife, and the majesty of the wilderness. I spent much of the day on the bow, scouring my surroundings for creatures great and small with guests, staff, and crew alike. The day began with views of Lamplugh and Johns Hopkins Glaciers, the latter of which provided ample views of calving and harbor seals. As we continued our cruise through the bay, we were treated to glimpses of bald eagles, red throated loons, and harlequin ducks who flew in front of our bow. Terrestrial wildlife had their moment at Gloomy Knob, where well over a dozen mountain goats roamed the cliffside and four brown bears lumbered through the alluvial plains of the park. I considered the day’s highlight to be our evening cruise past South Marble Island. Tufted puffins, common murres, pelagic cormorants, and gulls of various clades took to the skies while sea otters, Steller sea lions, and a lone humpback whale provided an epic aquatic display.
Our two-week odyssey from Sitka to Vancouver began with a calm, gray morning. Clouds wisped through the coastal mountains of Southeast Alaska and set a peaceful, ethereal mood for the morning’s cruise. Haida Cultural Interpreters Gidinjaad (Dee Dee Crosby) and Barbara Wilson sang an enchanting melody of gratitude as humpback whales approached, their voices seeming to harmonize with the powerful exhales from the whales’ blowholes. The afternoon’s highlight was Zodiac cruises, during which wildlife stole the show. The Inian Islands, situated at the northwestern edge of Alaska’s inside passage, are among the planet’s great wildlife hotspots. The Zodiac I piloted was witness to Steller sea lions performing an aquatic ballet, sea otters zipping through the kelp forest, and bald eagles fending off glaucous wing gulls for scraps of rockfish torn apart by other predators. We then gathered in the lounge in anticipation of National Geographic Explorer Mike Libecki (on assignment with National Geographic) and his evening program. Our photo expeditions with National Geographic Explorers provide an in-depth look at the planet’s most extreme and fragile biomes, and the ship teems with anticipation as we await Mike’s tales of adventure at the edges of the world.
The drizzling rain of the early morning cleared off for the start of our Zodiac tours through the dazzling Inian Islands. The Islands are incredibly special due to their geographic location. As the northernmost opening to the Inside Passage, tons of billions of gallons of water funnel in from the Pacific Ocean and cause an oceanic phenomenon called upwelling, where cold, nutrient dense water rises to the surface. Marine animals flock to these waters for the availability of food and resources. We were able to view sea otters, sea lions, and many bird species. The Zodiac tours had some of the most amazing views of the coastal waters, spruce covered islands, and wildlife. We ended the morning with a visit to the Tidelines Institute, a non-profit educational institute founded by Lindblad Naturalist and PhD in climate science, Zach Brown. The afternoon was filled with presentations, briefings, and our guest slideshow to end the evening during our transit up to Sitka. It was a fantastic ending to a great trip.