This morning dawned a surprisingly sunny and gorgeous day as National Geographic Quest made its way south, down Chatham Strait. Sleeping in a little later than normal, guests woke to views of a beautiful waterfall and multiple humpback whales spouting and stirring in search of fish. Picking up Dr. Andy Szabo of the Alaska Whale Foundation, the guests learned about research the foundation does on humpback whale health and the specific culture of bubblenet feeding exhibited by certain species of Alaska’s Southeast. After brunch, National Geographic Quest anchored deep off Kuiu Island’s Saginaw Bay. Guests went ashore to kayak, sightsee by stand-up paddleboard, and hike the island’s terrain. After a day’s worth of exploration, the Global Explorers onboard enjoyed a pizza and movie night while the adults dined and recounted the day’s highlights.
7/14/2024
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National Geographic Venture
Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness
We started the day with Zodiac tours of South Sawyer Glacier, a tidewater glacier. The air was cool, and it rained throughout the day, but that made the waterfalls gush. The walls of the Tracy Arm were dark yet glistening, and blue icebergs recently calved from South Sawyer Glacier stood out. The sea water stood in contrast against the ice. The brown of the land flushing into the sea swirled with a rusty hue that turned out to be a zooplankton bloom. The misty afternoon was spent kayaking from the base of one of the waterfalls with icebergs in various forms carried by nearby currents. It all made for a fantastic backdrop with swallows swooping close to the output of the falls, arctic terns darting and calling above, harbor seals cautiously following along, and pigeon guillemots surfacing with a whole silvery fish in their bills. After such a fantastic day, we finished up by viewing numerous waterfalls cascading down the steep fjord walls and a look at Sawyer Glacier misted in fingerlike clouds. What a beautiful sight.
