This morning, I overheard a comment from a guest to her partner, who had just joined us on the bow. “I was worried about you, but not worried enough to come find you,” she said. Those of us around her had to laugh. We understood. No one wanted to walk away, fear of missing anything. A very active group of transient (Bigg’s) killer whales captured our attention, moving fast, splashing, hunting, spy-hopping. They had already been preceded by pre-breakfast sighting of humpback whales, and those awake earlier enough saw a salmon shark. Our afternoon comprised kayaking and introductions to the Southeast Alaska rainforest with hikes at Lake Eva. What a day! Another comment overheard on the bow today: “We are setting the bar too high on Day One.”
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.