The choices seemed endless for our explorations in Haines, Alaska today. We followed our interests and curiosity and ended up flying over glaciers, hiking to a mountain top, walking the Canadian tundra, bicycling around bear scat, filling our chest waders with refreshing Chilkoot River water (some call it fly fishing), floating down the scenic and salmon filled Chilkat River, and enjoying the coastal rainforest. The lively chatter in the lounge this evening while we shared the stories of our day was the proof in the pudding that a good time was had by all.
9/10/2024
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National Geographic Sea Lion
Pavlof Harbor
The day started with an exciting encounter. Before breakfast we observed a group of bubble-netting humpback whales. It was incredible to see them lunge and hear them breathing at the surface. This was coupled by a glorious pink sunrise. After breakfast we took Zodiac cruises searching for bears near Pavlof Harbor. Even though we did not find any (wildlife is always delightfully unexpected), the scenery was beautiful, and we watched many adorable harbor seals. After thinking the excitement of the day was done, we spotted a large group of whales from a distance. While approaching closer, we realized this group was also bubble-net feeding. Close to the shore, we observed these whales for hours. We even dropped the hydrophone to hear their haunting feeding call before they all lunged at the surface. It was one of the most incredible things any of us had ever witnessed. As if this wasn’t enough, at our sunset recap we got the call that there were killer whales around the ship. It was the most amazing ending to the most amazing day.