Our morning started before breakfast as we peacefully listened to and watched a humpback whale surface, take a breath, and dive deep again for its own breakfast. After that serene early morning tonic, and with only a little bit of rain, we hiked deep into the coastal temperate rainforest towards Lake Eva, ever watchful for bears, river otters, and other critters of the woods. We marveled at the massive Sitka spruce and western hemlock trees towering above us, like pillars in a cathedral, a temple of wilderness in a unique part of the world. We had not had enough of this inspiring cold-weather jungle, and so in the afternoon we explored the edge of the forest in Sitkoh Bay and learned about the power of the forest to regenerate and all the links between land and ocean. The highlight was the brown bear that blocked our path back to our boat-landing. While we waited to be picked up in a different area—a safe distance from the brown bear—we had a marvelous time watching the bear stroll the beach and eat its dinner of coastal sedges. Tomorrow, we will explore the historical town of Sitka before the end of our journey.
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.