This was just another normal day in Southeast Alaska. A morning filled with sea otters, Steller’s sea lions, bald eagles, sea birds, glorious scenery and spectacular weather - and an afternoon of kayaking on glassy seas in beautiful coves and crannies and hikes ashore on a small pacific island with hoards of intertidal creatures and forests walks with sneak peaks out over the cloudless Fairweather Mountains across Cross Sound. Just another normal day in Southeast Alaska….except…..for our evening, the stewards dressed down and presented recap and the natural history staff dressed up and served dinner. As a naturalist, I had done this a few times before in the distant past (somewhere in the Pleistocene!) with mixed results, but this night was such a great combination of energies of guests, staff and crew. The stewards talked about their life during their contracts onboard….the thousands of beds made, sheets changed, heads cleaned and meals served (with some natural history bits to boot) and the natural history staff both gained a deeper appreciation of the work of the stewards and were tutored in the fine arts of the dinner server. All in all, there were no disasters and lots of fun. I think we all came away from the evening feeling so lucky and privileged to experience this day with such great shipmates, spectacular wildlife and amazing weather.
5/7/2025
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National Geographic Sea Bird
Daajing Giids, Haida Gwaii, Hecate Strait
After an evening cruising from SG̱ang Gwaay, National Geographic Sea Bird made one last stop this morning in Daajing Giids to drop off our cultural interpreters, DeeDee Crosby and Grace Garvie. At dock, we had two unique opportunities. The first, our daily morning stretch class had the opportunity to meet on land, and second, we welcomed the incredible artisan, Aay Aay, aboard. We were familiar with Aay Aay, who we had met two days prior as an interpreter at the Haida Heritage Center. His specialty is a revival of traditional Haida weaving. During Aay Aay’s time on board, he shared with us his personal story about discovering and mastering his art with spruce root, cedar, and wool weaving. He taught us how to hand spin the warp threads that would be the beginnings of a wool piece. After an artistic morning, we embarked on our journey across Hecate Strait to reach our next destination along our expedition, Alaska. This evening, I write as we make our way into Dixon Entrance preparing to wake up to the scenery of the famed Misty Fjords in the morning.







