As the sun rose over Admiralty Island, National Geographic Venture slowly cruised along Chatham Strait looking for wildlife. We saw numerous individual whales, pairs, and cow/calf pairs! Eventually the National Geographic Venture slowly approached our afternoon landing site, Lake Eva. This well-groomed trail along a very active salmon spawning stream is one of our favorite hikes in Southeast Alaska. Not only were there plenty of spawning salmon, but we ended up seeing a mom with two cubs catching their lunch near a small waterfall in this productive stream! In total, there were eight bears sighted during our stay. We kayaked, paddle boarded, and hiked in this spectacular environment. Under blue skies, we ended the day with an invigorating “Polar Plunge” into the Alaskan waters.
7/18/2024
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National Geographic Quest
Freshwater Bay, Chichagof Island
This morning before breakfast, the bridge team of National Geographic Quest spotted orcas in Freshwater Bay. Eager to see this iconic whale species, the bow was quickly occupied by excited guests, staff, and crew. We could not have asked for better conditions. A sunny, calm morning with at least a dozen orcas! Wow! After breakfast we went ashore at Kennel Creek on Chichagof Island and split into aerobic, moderate, and casual walking groups. After yesterday’s wet forest at Fox Creek, we welcomed the firm, dry ground of an old logging road. Along our walks there were abundant signs of brown bears. One of the two aerobic walks had fresh bear tracks on top of their footprints upon their return. In the afternoon cruising down Chatham Strait, we enjoyed time on deck soaking up the sun when an eagle-eye naturalist spotted a group of humpbacks ten miles away! As we approached, we could see that this was no small group, as twenty-three whales were bubble net feeding! This day will long be imprinted in our memories of wild Alaska.
