Overnight, National Geographic Sea Lion brought us through Frederick Sound from Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness to the town of Petersburg, Alaska. We spent the morning exploring the historic town with our cameras, and some guests took a trail through the misty temperate rainforest to visit a muskeg. We boarded the ship in the afternoon and headed south, enjoying the scenery in Wrangell Narrows as we cruised along looking for wildlife. Later in the afternoon, naturalist Bette Lu Krause gave a wonderful talk about her time as a young woman on the high seas travelling the world as a merchant marine. In the evening, just as we were about to sit for dinner, we got a visit from a pod of killer whales! Everyone enjoyed sunset on the bow as we watched these incredible mammals. After some time enjoying their company, we were beckoned back to the dining room for crab night—a crowd favorite—and capped off the evening with a very humorous and insightful talk about the life cycle of salmon by naturalist Luke Manson.
5/7/2025
Read
National Geographic Sea Bird
Daajing Giids, Haida Gwaii, Hecate Strait
After an evening cruising from SG̱ang Gwaay, National Geographic Sea Bird made one last stop this morning in Daajing Giids to drop off our cultural interpreters, DeeDee Crosby and Grace Garvie. At dock, we had two unique opportunities. The first, our daily morning stretch class had the opportunity to meet on land, and second, we welcomed the incredible artisan, Aay Aay, aboard. We were familiar with Aay Aay, who we had met two days prior as an interpreter at the Haida Heritage Center. His specialty is a revival of traditional Haida weaving. During Aay Aay’s time on board, he shared with us his personal story about discovering and mastering his art with spruce root, cedar, and wool weaving. He taught us how to hand spin the warp threads that would be the beginnings of a wool piece. After an artistic morning, we embarked on our journey across Hecate Strait to reach our next destination along our expedition, Alaska. This evening, I write as we make our way into Dixon Entrance preparing to wake up to the scenery of the famed Misty Fjords in the morning.
