After spending the night at a quiet anchorage in Icy Strait, National Geographic Sea Lion lifted its anchor and headed toward Dundas Bay, one of the more remote bays in Glacier Bay National Park. Our plans got slightly delayed by a wonderful encounter with a pod of killer whales right at the mouth of the Dundas River! So, after spending an hour in the company of these incredible mammals, and on a perfect morning, we continued to our anchorage. From there we had the option of several exploratory hikes or going for a long Zodiac cruise into the depths of this wilderness waterway. During lunch our vessel repositioned a short distance just off Fox Creek for our afternoon activities of kayaking around the Shaw Islands, or several choices of hikes along the creek!
5/13/2025
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National Geographic Venture
Basket Bay
A day of Zodiac cruising in Basket Bay on Chichagof Island brought wild beauty and unforgettable encounters. As the morning mist thinned, we traced the rugged shoreline beneath towering forested cliffs, where ochre sea stars clung to rocks and dense clusters of blue mussels covered the intertidal zone like armor. Bald eagles circled overhead, and a river otter slipped along the kelp-strewn shore. Not long into our cruise, a humpback whale surfaced nearby, vanishing as suddenly as it appeared. Then, the real show began. A pod of five orcas emerged from the north, cutting through the water with smooth, deliberate power. Their tall dorsal fins knifed the surface in silence as we viewed them from a respectful distance, the pod weaving in and out of view among the swells. Onshore, waterfalls thundered from the cliffs, swollen with rain, sending spray across the rocks. The air smelled of salt and cedar. We lingered near one cascade, engines low, taking in the raw energy of water meeting sea. By the time we turned back toward the anchorage, the sky had turned dark and williwaws descended upon us. We were all smiles as memories of our special orca encounter shone brightly.
