An hour before dawn National Geographic Sea Lion was heading north in Behm Canal. The eastern sky was beginning to show signs of pink and early morning sunlight began to touch the tops of the mountains on the western side of the canal. We were on approach to our first stop of the morning: a volcanic plug dead center in the northern reaches of Behm Canal. New Eddy Stone Rock, a 230-foot-tall rock formation, was named in 1793 by Captain Vancouver because of its resemblance to a lighthouse rock off of Plymouth England.
Captain Sinclair was at the helm and humored the photo staff on the bow by making a long, slow complete circle around New Eddy Stone Rock. The goal was to wait for the sunrise light to make its way down and light up this rock formation and the surrounding bay. About 30 minutes before breakfast our wishes were granted and morning light was dancing all around Behm Canal, New Eddy Stone Rock, the clouds and nearby shoreline. While we all adjourned to the dining room for breakfast, Sea Lion made a sharp turn to the right and entered Rudyerd Bay, named by W.H. Dahl for the English engineer John Rudyerd, who rebuilt the New Eddy Stone Lighthouse after its destruction in 1703.
After breakfast our day began in the national monument called Misty Fjords. This area of 2.1 million acres was established in the late 1970s and was part of a preservation of 56 million acres in Southeast Alaska enacted by President Jimmy Carter. The establishment of a national monument allows only 12 people ashore at a time at high tide. Our goal this morning was two-fold. First, we would enter the deeper section of Rudyerd Bay through Owl Pass by Zodiac and wait for Sea Lion to pass through this narrow opening...creating an opportunity for some wonderful early morning photographs of our ship as she made her way under the watchful eyebrows of the owl of Owl Pass and enter the eastern arm of Rudyerd Bay. Once inside, two options were offered; kayaking and another, longer Zodiac cruise. The sun continued to rise in the sky filling this narrow, steep-walled fjord with sunlight and warmth.
All too soon we were back on board making our way into the dining room for our midday meal. As we were enjoying lunch Sea Lion lifted her hook and slowly made her way back out in a westerly direction turning sharply into Punchbowl Cove, probably the most photographed small body of water in all of Misty Fjords. Once inside our expedition leader decided that the warmth of the day warranted the special experience of a brisk swim in the waters of Misty Fjords.
A small handful of brave souls jumped from the fantail into Punchbowl Cove and took a brief swim, returning to the ship as heroes!
Once warmed up we all made our way to the forward lounge for a presentation by our National Geographic photographer Michael Melford on how a story is created for National Geographic. As Michael was speaking a radio nearby began squawking...a lone killer whale had been spotted in Behm Canal near New Eddy Stone Rock!! Michael encouraged everyone to get up to the bow and enjoy our first sighting of a killer whale. For the next hour, as the sun was setting in the west, we watched a wonderfully goofy killer whale move back and forth, hunting, checking out Sea Lion, tail lobbing, and waving its pectoral flipper!
Backlit beautifully, this lone killer whale was a fabulous sight and finale on yet another exceptional day; our last in Southeast Alaska...onward, we journeyed south towards British Columbia and further exploration of the Inside Passage.
