Kelp Bay & Chatham Strait, 8/24/2019, National Geographic Sea Bird
Aboard the
National Geographic Sea Bird
Alaska
Holy smokes! What an amazing way to start our expedition in Southeast Alaska! Humpbacks before breakfast, bears fishing for salmon during hikes, and even more humpbacks bubble-net feeding in the afternoon: It doesn’t get much better than this.
Kim is a marine biologist, fine art photographer, and avid fisherman. Based in Juneau, Alaska, Lingít Aaní, she spends her time between the mountains and the ocean. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Cognitive Neuroscience from the Unive...
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Steve fell in love with the beauty of the natural world at an early age. In addition to nature, his other main passion was telling stories though the medium of television and radio. Steve studied broadcast jo...
Today’s journey through the inland passage was filled with classic Southeast Alaska magic. We departed from the Inian Islands yesterday under overcast skies, cruising toward Chichagof Island. In the lounge, guests listened to a presentation about the culture of whales in Alaska; then in a very timely manner, we encountered a humpback whale hanging out and feeding shortly after our presentation. Guests watched the whale from the deck as the sun came out. We continued cruising Chichagof, and the wildlife sightings continued as well. Near the shore, we spotted seven brown bears; some were grazing in the sedge of the grass, while others turned over rocks looking for snacks in the intertidal. We watched them from the ship, and then again from the Zodiacs as we cruised toward Eva Lagoon to disembark for our hikes around Lake Eva.
Exploring the biodiverse waters and shorelines of the Inian Islands never disappoints. Among today’s wildlife sightings were sea and river otters, Stellar sea lions, bald eagles, banana slugs and more! The guests of National Geographic Sea Lion explored on foot, by kayak, and by expedition landing craft today. An amazing day was had by all!
We had incredible weather as we passed over the terminal moraine into Endicott Arm and progressed toward Dawes Glacier, the destination for our last expedition in our Zodiacs. Two rounds of cruises in our small boats brought guests close to the ice, to admire the unique shapes and brilliant hues of blue. Ice islands floated by as we cruised past towering waterfalls in the stunning fjord. It was the perfect ending and icing on the cake for our wonderful expedition aboard National Geographic Sea Bird .
