Inside passage, British Columbia, 9/14/2017, National Geographic Sea Lion
Aboard the
National Geographic Sea Lion
Alaska
From sunrise to sunset, today was a glorious, cloudless day of cruising the inside passage of Canada. Whales, waterfalls, and wilderness were the themes of the day. We certainly enjoyed the warm weather and calm seas for exploring this wild coast.
Mike learned early on that the best way to escape Ohio was to become a marine biologist. During college at Wittenberg University he attended a semester at Duke University's Marine Lab — that time only confirmed his love for all things oceanic and ma...
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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.
This morning, we awoke to a quintessential Southeast Alaska day in Icy Strait, with low clouds, a little mist, and amazing opportunities to see wildlife. Several sea otters floated by National Geographic Sea Lion as we made our way west, but the real magic began when we saw four humpback whales. Calm at first, they soon began an incredible display of activity, including breaching, pectoral slapping, and tail lobbing. Continuing, we dropped anchor at George Island to enjoy hiking and kayaking for the morning. It’s fall in the forest and the variety of mushrooms on display was remarkable. Before heading back to the ship for lunch, the brave among us took part in our polar plunge by running into the ocean from the beach. They came out looking refreshed and ready to be warmed by a chili lunch! After a short repositioning, we anchored at the Inian Islands to spend our afternoon Zodiac cruising this special place. Never one to disappoint, the Inians brought us sea otters, Steller sea lions, bald eagles, scores of rhinoceros auklets, and even some humpback whales. We came back feeling enchanted by this landscape and the animals that make it home.
Our expedition began yesterday in Alaska’s capital city, Juneau, at the foot of the coastal mountains, draped in the deep greens and grays of the temperate rainforest. Rain was the operative description of the day, but as we headed south the weather broke and we had fine sailing overnight toward Tracy Arm. This fjord is incised deeply into the mountains, close to the Stikine ice field and the border with Canada. Heading toward South Sawyer Glacier we were able to explore this unique landscape in our expedition landing craft, weaving among the floating broken glacier ice. We spied mountain goats on the steep mountainsides, harbor seals in the water and on the ice, and the deep blue face of the glacier as it tumbled over a rocky ridge into the sea. We enjoyed informative presentations from the expedition staff throughout the afternoon, as well as time to enjoy the scenery from the outer decks of the ship. As we sailed out of the fjord in the golden light of early evening, we saw a lone humpback whale cruising the shoreline and lazily feeding on schools of small fish. A fine day of exploration in Southeast Alaska.
