This morning we would enjoy the most marine of environments on our week long expedition in Southeast Alaska. If you were approaching the coast of Alaska from the open ocean Cross Sound is the northern most entrance into the protected waterways that extend all the way to Seattle. National Geographic Sea Lion was anchored at the east end of Cross Sound. Two rounds of expedition landing craft cruises were offered and that gave us the opportunity to see the marine wildlife up close and personal. Sea otters, harbor seals, plenty of sea birds and northern sea lions were witnessed in the water and on the rocky shore lines. One humpback whale even made a brief appearance before descending.
In the afternoon the ship was repositioned to the south in a protected fjord called Port Althorp. There were many old buildings along one side of the fjord. These were leftovers from World War II. Sailors from the US Navy were stationed here to defend against a possible attack by the Japanese. The buildings and gun emplacement on nearby George Island were quickly put into place in 1942. We had the chance to kayak in the placid waters and then go for a walk along the edge of the meadow to a stream that later in the summer will have salmon running up stream to their spawning grounds. The tide was rising so walks had to trace the edge of the forest, but the flowers were abundant. Two large foundation rafts lashed together with steel cable were found, these were derelicts from and old cannery that used to be stationed here in Port Althorp.
On our way out in the evening we saw more sea others as they busily swam along the edges of the fjord.
