We had a wonderful first day of our trip together. We woke up near the sandbar that marks the entrance to Tracy Arm. We spent the early morning on the bow, looking at seabirds and the incredible towering rock faces of the fjord. Upon sighting South Sawyer Glacier, we dropped our Zodiacs to explore this special place in Tracy Arm-Fords Terror National Wilderness. We were lucky from the beginning. We saw three mountain goats grazing on impossibly high vegetation on the rock walls around us. As we moved closer to the face of the glacier, harbor seals inquisitively popped their heads up from all sides of our Zodiacs. We even got the chance to see some pretty remarkable calving events. During and after lunch, we enjoyed the views from National Geographic Sea Bird as we cruised towards Williams Cove near the mouth of Tracy Arm. Here, we all went ashore to explore and get our first taste of the temperate rainforest of Southeast Alaska. It was a beautiful afternoon with clear views of the nearby mountains and with lots to discover in the forest – we even enjoyed some snacking on salmonberries, blueberries, and watermelon berries along the way. We were happy to be off to such a great start!
5/5/2025
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National Geographic Sea Lion
Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness
Throughout the night, National Geographic Sea Lion cruised south in Chatham Strait. Heading further south into Stephens Passage, we approached Holkham Bay and the entrance to Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, 653,179 acres of land which received the highest level of protection from Congress in 1980. Most of our day would be spent exploring the deep fjords which make up the heart of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness. Zodiacs were dropped and our group was divided in half, each group taking an hour and a half traveling up the fjord to the face of Dawes Glacier. White thunder sounded from the face of the glacier, birds circled, and harbor porpoises showed their dorsal fins. Due to heavy rain, waterfalls of many sizes were everywhere. Once Zodiac rides returned to the ship, our floating home began a cruise back down Endicott Arm heading for Holkham Bay and the entrance back to Stephens Passage. A very silly brown bear, humpback whales, Steller sea lions, and more porpoises were observed throughout the afternoon and early evening. It was an amazing first day, and Southeast Alaska was enjoyed by all, with so much more to come!
