We awoke this morning on National Geographic Quest in the calm waters of Holkham Bay at the entrance to the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness. This wilderness, established in 1980, is over 650,000 acres in size and surrounds both Tracy and Endicott Arm Fjords. The morning began gently with a stretch class on the sundeck and a delicious breakfast in the dining room. We spent the early morning hours cruising for wildlife and we were not disappointed. Many of us on the bow were delighted to encounter some humpback whales spouting as they traveled through the glassy, calm, ice-laden waters. Rab, our expedition leader, then introduced us to life aboard the vessel and gave us tips and tricks for kayaking, hiking, and Zodiac cruising in this awesome place. The National Geographic Global Explorers met on the sundeck for some ‘get to know you’ games and to begin work in our Field Notebooks. Ryder offered us a great program on expedition photography and then we broke into small groups to learn more about our individual cameras. After lunch we headed out for our first Zodiac excursions amongst the beautiful ice of Endicott Arm near Dawes Glacier.
8/1/2019
Watch
National Geographic Venture
Baranof Island
After exploring the glaciers and open waters of the northern Inside Passage, we sailed south through the night and returned to the starting point of our journey, Baranof Island. This island, along with Admiralty to the east and Chichagof to the north, is home to one of the highest densities of brown bears in the world. To search for evidence of the bears as they begin their yearly salmon feast and continue our exploration of the temperate rainforest, we anchored in Kelp Bay to kayak and hike the shoreline throughout the morning. Later in the afternoon, we welcomed Dr. Andy Szabo of the Alaska Whale Foundation to learn more about ongoing research taking place in Alaska on the unique bubblenet feeding behavior we witnessed earlier in the trip. Only in Alaska can you experience the forest, salmon, bears, and whales all in one day.
