It was a beautiful morning as we sailed toward and into Pavlof Harbor. We were greeted by a brown bear mother and cub walking along the shoreline. We dropped our Zodiacs and cruised over to a nearby waterfall, where there was a group of brown bears of different ages catching pink salmon and playing in the water. We floated quietly and watched them go about their fishing. We then set sail through the huge fjord of Chatham Strait, looking for charismatic megafauna. After spotting a bunch of spouts in the distance, we headed toward the shoreline, where we witnessed a dozen humpback whales blowing, fluking, and bubble-net feeding. We celebrated the magnificent day with our final cocktail hour, recap, and the guest slideshow. It was a wonderful way to end our Southeast Alaska adventure.
5/7/2025
Read
National Geographic Sea Lion
Inian Islands, Port Althorp
The Inian Islands invoke sheer joy and excitement among the naturalists, which in turn, is transferred to the guests. We set out in Zodiacs, traversing in nearly unprecedented calm conditions through the narrow Mosquito Pass, then around North Inian Island. We observed over a dozen bald eagles and sea lions waiting for the inrushing tide to bring fish to the surface for easy pickings. We also saw a couple of male sea otters peacefully lying on the surface while fluffing up their fur to introduce air for insulation (they don’t have blubber). The weather was classic Alaska…sun grading to rain…then to partly cloudy. In the afternoon, we traveled to Port Althorp for kayaking and hikes. Again, very calm conditions with intermittent sun and rain. The hikes were beautiful, winding across the mud flats and into the thick rainforest painted with several shades of green. Bear trails were observed and used by us as convenient paths to follow. Kayakers slowly paddled across glassy water to enjoy the peace and solitude. The day ended with soft sun.