Neva Point, Baranof Island
Today, our final day aboard the Sea Lion, we hiked and kayaked in Sitcoh Bay in the morning and cruised Peril Strait, one of the most intricate waterways of Southeast Alaska, in the late afternoon. The trip thus far has been full of remarkable wildlife sightings, incredible scenery, and perhaps most amazing of all, seven days of sunshine! Humpback whales, orca, moose and mountain goats have filled our binocular views as well as our dreams at night. But one icon of Alaska had eluded our view… until this evening. Most guests were gathered in the lounge for the Captain’s farewell cocktails when word came from our Expedition Leader, there are grizzly bears (Ursus arctos, a.k.a. brown bear) on the shore! Talk about waiting until the last minute! Forsaking the tasty crab treats and warmth of the lounge we piled out onto the bow decks and focused on the shore where a mother brown bear and her two yearling cubs were calmly feeding along the shore. The bears were oblivious to our presence at the beginning of the sighting. The sow grazed on grasses unconcerned while the cubs explored as only cubs can, some fifty meters away. The family slowly made their way along the shoreline towards us, weaving in and out among the vegetation and up and down over logs. Eventually, when they were all close together, they seemed to finally notice that they were being watched intently. Twenty minutes into the sighting, the bears shuffled into the forest, leaving us both thrilled and somehow more complete from the experience of seeing these majestic creatures at home in the forests of Southeast.
Today, our final day aboard the Sea Lion, we hiked and kayaked in Sitcoh Bay in the morning and cruised Peril Strait, one of the most intricate waterways of Southeast Alaska, in the late afternoon. The trip thus far has been full of remarkable wildlife sightings, incredible scenery, and perhaps most amazing of all, seven days of sunshine! Humpback whales, orca, moose and mountain goats have filled our binocular views as well as our dreams at night. But one icon of Alaska had eluded our view… until this evening. Most guests were gathered in the lounge for the Captain’s farewell cocktails when word came from our Expedition Leader, there are grizzly bears (Ursus arctos, a.k.a. brown bear) on the shore! Talk about waiting until the last minute! Forsaking the tasty crab treats and warmth of the lounge we piled out onto the bow decks and focused on the shore where a mother brown bear and her two yearling cubs were calmly feeding along the shore. The bears were oblivious to our presence at the beginning of the sighting. The sow grazed on grasses unconcerned while the cubs explored as only cubs can, some fifty meters away. The family slowly made their way along the shoreline towards us, weaving in and out among the vegetation and up and down over logs. Eventually, when they were all close together, they seemed to finally notice that they were being watched intently. Twenty minutes into the sighting, the bears shuffled into the forest, leaving us both thrilled and somehow more complete from the experience of seeing these majestic creatures at home in the forests of Southeast.
