The Inian Islands teemed with wildlife today. Steller sea lions flung halibut back and forth while more than twenty bald eagles swooped and tussled over food. Gulls of various species prepped their rock homes for forthcoming chicks, and a humpback whale rolled leisurely in the middle of a tidal rip. Our guests couldn’t decide where to look! High drama was everywhere.

Later in the day, at Port Althorp, seventeen bushwhackers triumphantly emerged after a three-hour-long crawl through mossy understory and boglands. With sticks in their hair, they returned to the ship with stories of perennial bear tracks, deer scat, spring violets, hidden muskegs, deer antlers, and migrating shorebirds.

To memorialize the excitement from today, here are quotes from the Zodiac tours —

“This is the best day.”

“I will never forget this.”

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”