Up close and personal was the theme for today. We started before breakfast when Captain Duke brought the Sea Lion up to Hole in the Wall Waterfall in Tracy Arm. Cascades of whitewater spilled hundreds of feet over the glacially polished granite wall. What a way to wake up as the Captain nosed the bow of the ship toward the falls with the spray misting our faces! At the head of Tracy Arm, once again the Captain gave us an up close and personal view. Eyes transfixed on the face of the South Sawyer Glacier, we watched gigantic chunks of ice break off and crash to the sea in the process known as calving. On our way out of the fjord we cruised along a steep wall covered with wildflowers. Bright red paintbrush, spiky goatsbeard, delicate harebells, and prolific asters grew from crevices. It was a bit like strolling through a garden but from the deck of our ship.

After lunch we kayaked and cruised in the Zodiacs looking for wildlife. This time it was up close and personal with an eagle nest! From our water perspective we could see a massive bundle of sticks and moss about three-quarters of the way up a large spruce tree. Inside the nest sat an adult bald eagle and its chick, a scene that most of us have never had the privilege of witnessing before.

After such a full day of being up close and personal in Southeast Alaska we were enjoying dinner when suddenly half the people in the dining room screamed. A humpback whale had breached 100 yards from the ship. So our final up close and personal for the day was with a pod of humpbacks. Just in front of us a female and her calf surfaced, blew, and submerged back into their watery realm. It had only been 24 hours since we boarded the Sea Lion and already we had seen so much and in such an up close and personal way.