It is Haines Day, a guest favorite onboard our ships. Extra neat because not all our Alaska itineraries go to this quaint little town of 1,500. We spent the day on land, heading out on adventures right after breakfast. We offered our guests a variety of activities from hiking Mt. Riley to cycling to a glacier-made lake to a river float tour into a bald eagle preserve. We also visited a Tlingit village called Klukwan, considered by some to be the capital of the Tlingit nation.
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.
