This morning, we awoke to precipitous cliffs lining the glacial fiord of Tracy Arm. As we cruised by dramatic mountains, the aftermath of Pleistocene glaciation surrounded us with U-shaped valleys, sheer waterfalls, and narrow gorges leading up to South Sawyer Glacier. The fjord was packed with gargantuan, captivating icebergs and soon we piled into the expedition landing craft for a closer look!
Cameras snapped shots left and right of the icy asunder until some mountain goats, with adorable kids nipping at their heels, stole the spotlight. Harbor seal heads bobbed between bergy bits as the sound of the glacier calving thundered throughout the bay.
One of our naturalists brought back a particularly large growler, and thusly, the melt off challenge commenced! In the lounge, the ice began to melt while we warmed up with some hot cocoa to enjoy photo instructor Jonathan Kingston’s, presentation on Expedition Photography. Subsequently, our Smithsonian guest speaker, David Wimpfheimer, gave a talk featuring Alaskan birds as National Geographic Sea Bird sailed through Stephens Passage en route to The Brothers.
Our evening came to a close with a glorious display of common murres right in front of an aggregation of acrobatic humpback whales feeding on planktonic krill, making their nightly commute to the sea’s surface.
