Southeast Alaska welcomed us this morning with her typical finicky behavior—rain turned into heavy fog which turned into low-hanging clouds which turned into mostly cloudy skies with brilliant patches of sunshine. As we cruised through Kelp Bay we were greeted by the sight of a humpback whale cow and calf. The water was flat and the winds were calm so their misty blows hovered in the air for seconds before disappearing. Their hypnotic movements were a calming way to start our day. A brief bear sighting in the late morning delayed our introduction to digital photography presentation, but our photo instructor, Sharon Grainger, managed to squeeze it in before lunch.
The afternoon found us at Pavlof Harbor with choices to make—should we explore the temperate rainforest on foot with the natural history staff? Should we take advantage of the perfect weather conditions and enjoy a leisurely paddle in the kayaks? Or should we hop aboard one of the expedition landing crafts and take a scenic cruise around the area? Whichever option we chose, we were rewarded. Some of us crossed paths with sea birds and sea otters, others saw a lonely harbor seal hauled out on a rock, and the intrepid hikers got a close encounter with a mother bear and her three cubs.
As we sat down to dinner we were all feeling very satisfied with our first day on the National Geographic Sea Lion. But before dessert arrived, our expedition leader announced that we had crossed paths with a pod of killer whales. Dinners grew cold as we all raced to the bow to watch a small group of killer whales swim alongside the ship. There were at least two large males with towering dorsal fins and one baby who treated us to several spy hops and a tail slap. It was an amazing first day and it is hard to imagine what we might see tomorrow!
