The first full day aboard National Geographic Sea Lion began with quite the bang! After field staff introductions and a morning briefing, guests departed on Zodiac tours cruising through Tracy Arm. This region, fully named Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, is a highly protected area within Tongass National Forest. Tracy Arm extends roughly thirty miles into the wilderness and is a wonderful place to view two glaciers: South Sawyer and North Sawyer.

From Zodiacs, guests witnessed incredible glacial calving events. Along the way, guests also saw a great number of harbor seals on the ice floes, as well as arctic terns flying along the face of South Sawyer glacier. In the afternoon, the ship cruised out of Tracy Arm and up Holkham Bay toward Haines, all while on the lookout for humpback whales.