Tracy Arm Fjord
The National Geographic Sea Lion cruised north from Petersburg and entered Tracy Arm in the early morning hours. This classic fjord – narrow, twisty, and deep – is surrounded by pristine, mountainous wilderness. A couple iconic representatives of this wild area - two black bears foraging in close proximity in the intertidal zone – showed up before breakfast. One guest even came out in pajamas to see them. They were certainly cognizant of each other, and they must have been aware of us as well, but we did not witness any overt interaction between them, and they seemed undisturbed as we observed and photographed them from the bow of the vessel.
Magnificent scenery stunned us at every turn. The ship passed Sawyer Island, where the fjord splits, and we could see South Sawyer Glacier tumbling from the mountains to the sea. This active tidewater glacier is in rapid retreat, and a raw landscape and many icebergs attest to this. We descended onto our Zodiacs to get another perspective of the glacier and we noticed that several animals use the icebergs near the head of the fjord. Dainty Arctic terns rest on them. Harbor seals bear their pups directly on the icebergs, safe from land and sea predators. Bald eagles may eat the afterbirth from the seals. We observed seven young eagles on a single iceberg! What will happen if this habitat disappears with the glaciers’ continued retreat?
In the afternoon we had a chance to kayak in the grandeur of Tracy Arm – specks on the water marveling at looming precipitous cliffs soaring skyward. Scattered icebergs provided more photo opportunities. Later we visited Hole-in-the-wall Waterfall for additional irresistible images.
There were many occasions throughout the day to reflect on all that we experienced on our voyage of the past week. Tracy Arm is a wonderful and inspiring place to culminate our expedition.
