The morning started out with blue skies and the sun shining, with a scrumptious breakfast of fresh fruit, French toast, bacon, sausage and delicious oatmeal.
We headed out on the small boats to explore the Inian Islands. No sooner had we left than we came upon several sea otters with their pups resting on their bellies! We had wonderful photo opportunities, and enjoyed the help of one of our photo instructors who also pointed out that Glacier Bay was visible because of the clear day.
As we entered the convergence of the Pacific Ocean with the Inside Passage, we came across many Steller sea lions feasting on the fish. One bull Steller sea lion had actually caught a halibut! Many of the sea birds were flying down, hoping to pick up some left overs, but this bull seemed to be able to eat this fish all by himself! Other sea lions came by our boat, very curious about the humans; poking their heads high out of the water and checking us out.
Many adult and juvenile bald eagles were swooping down to pick up the leftover fish. They flew around us and were so majestic!
Our boat ride ended with a humpback whale sighting. She was logging (resting) for a while, and just as we were getting ready to ride back to the boat for lunch, she arched her back and showed us her tail as she dove into the deeps of the water. What a beautiful morning!
This afternoon we hiked and explored on George Island and were gifted with the breaching of a whale at our look-out point. Others went kayaking in the calm waters, enjoying the serene beauty of Alaska, while others did some tide pool exploration. After our hike, the staff of National Geographic Sea Lion surprised us with margaritas on the beach and snacks of chips, salsa, guacamole and ceviche!
Three of our guests decided to do an impromptu “polar bear swim” which ended our perfect day. We are all so grateful to be in such a pristine, beautiful place, surrounded by all of the amazing wildlife!
