During the middle of the night, the National Geographic Venture entered Glacier Bay National Park and sailed with the tide approximately 60 miles into the park. At sunrise, we were treated to beautiful light playing on the mountain peaks of the Fairweather Range and the clouds hovered over the Johns Hopkin Glacier. Just after breakfast, we visited Margerie Glacier listening and watching the glacier calve big pieces of ice into Tarr Inlet. Our thoughtful hotel staff set out a Bloody Mary bar stocked with all the fixings including candied salmon. As we made our way back down the bay, we encounter a total of three coastal brown bear on the shore of Rustle Cut. One interaction appeared to be a large dark male bear pursuing a smaller blonde female bear. Further south we watched a half dozen mountain goats perched on the precarious ledges of Gloomy Knob grazing on grass. Further down the bay we approached the Marble Islands which were teeming with wildlife including a bald eagle, an abundance of sea birds including puffins, and dozens of Northern sea lions hauled out. We headed south into the setting summer sun for another day of adventure in Southeast Alaska.
6/14/2025
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National Geographic Quest
Southeast Alaska
On the last full day of our voyage, we woke in Endicott Arm near the Dawes Glacier. We spent the morning enjoying Zodiac tours to the face of Dawes Glacier and watched multiple calving events. We were also able to spot several harbor seals, waterfalls, and a couple harbor porpoises on the way. After lunch we had the opportunity to participate in a polar plunge. Forty people decided to brave the frigid water for a short swim. Those of us not eager to jump into glacier water were able to watch from the bow. After the polar plunge, we warmed up on board as we started transiting towards Juneau. On the way, we stopped at a beautiful waterfall to once again admire the amazing natural beauty of Alaska. During our farewell recap, we were treated to a quick visit by a humpback whale. We ended our day with a slideshow made up of our favorite photos and memories of an amazing week on board National Geographic Quest .