The day began with calm water allowing for kayaking and paddleboarding in Sitkoh Bay. Banana slugs were immensely popular with the children—and young at heart—on all the hikes. The thimbleberry bushes were in full bloom and, in a few weeks, bears will surely delight in eating them. Everyone took turns with the kayaks and hiking and then headed back to the ship for lunch. After lunch, we had a presentation and then set out for more hiking near Lake Eva in Hanus Bay. Numerous wildflowers were in bloom and the naturalists explained the rainforest ecosystem. After dinner we enjoyed an incredible sunset and spotted numerous humpback whales spouting and displaying their flukes.
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.
