After traveling north overnight through Lynn Canal, we dropped anchor at 6:30 a.m. outside the town of Haines. Large rays of sunlight slipped through the clouds above and a brisk wind picked up on the water as we began shuttles to shore for the morning’s activities. Our day in Haines was a choose-your-own-adventure day, so guests went a variety of separate ways — some off to climb local peak Mount Riley, others off to the Klukwan Village for a cultural tour and river float, and some off to the Chilkat River to fly fish or bike ride along the road. In the afternoon, more hikes and bikes and fishing filled our hours, including excellent sightings along the Chilkat of local brown bear Lulu and her two cubs fishing for salmon. We had time to explore the charming town of Haines, which has a population of just under 2,000 residents. Some popular town stops included local distillery Port Chilkoot, the Hammer Museum, and the Haines Brewing Company to try the local spruce tip ale. Back on board National Geographic Sea Bird, we gathered in the lounge and swapped stories from our day, grateful that the rain held off and we enjoyed such varied and wonderful adventures.
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.