Today was an incredible day, one of those days that even the staff will remember forever and compare to other days. We started our morning at a beautiful anchorage called Fox Creek. Guests kayaked in crystal-clear, blue waters, where they spotted small fish and even some sea stars. They hiked into the forest and saw bear tracks, wildflowers, and bald eagles. On top of great hiking/kayaking conditions, we had impeccable weather. The sun was shining, there was no wind, and the air temperature was warm. We traveled a short distance to the Inian Islands, which were an absolute dream. The good weather continued, and we saw so many humpback whales. We observed breaching, chin slapping, tail slapping, and feeding. The Steller sea lions were not about to be outdone, and they jumped, played in our wake, and swam underneath our boats. As if the day couldn’t get better, we saw a rare minke whale that let us watch it for about twenty minutes. To top off the day, we had trivia night.
5/7/2025
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National Geographic Sea Lion
Inian Islands, Port Althorp
The Inian Islands invoke sheer joy and excitement among the naturalists, which in turn, is transferred to the guests. We set out in Zodiacs, traversing in nearly unprecedented calm conditions through the narrow Mosquito Pass, then around North Inian Island. We observed over a dozen bald eagles and sea lions waiting for the inrushing tide to bring fish to the surface for easy pickings. We also saw a couple of male sea otters peacefully lying on the surface while fluffing up their fur to introduce air for insulation (they don’t have blubber). The weather was classic Alaska…sun grading to rain…then to partly cloudy. In the afternoon, we traveled to Port Althorp for kayaking and hikes. Again, very calm conditions with intermittent sun and rain. The hikes were beautiful, winding across the mud flats and into the thick rainforest painted with several shades of green. Bear trails were observed and used by us as convenient paths to follow. Kayakers slowly paddled across glassy water to enjoy the peace and solitude. The day ended with soft sun.