Endicott Arm
Travelers are lured to this part of the world by the impressive wildlife, scenic beauty, and massive glaciers. Today all of these attractions combined for a fabulous final day on the Sea Lion in Southeast Alaska. Tendrils of soft clouds laced through the forested ridges at the entrance to Endicott Arm, the glaciated fiord where we planned to spend the entire day. In times long past the tongue of the Dawes Glacier stretched from its present face approximately 30 miles to Stephen’s Passage. The ship cruised inland flanked by the ice-scraped slopes and canyon walls decorated with waterfalls. A black bear foraged in the bright green vegetation with her three yearling cubs. These youngsters would have entered the world in a winter den during January or February of 2004. While the bears wandered the intertidal flats, the twittering of an eagle emerged from a nearby tree where two white-headed adults perched. A few minutes after we left the bears, an announcement came over the PA that another killer whale just surfaced in the distance. This has to be the most amazing killer whale trip ever! A single male teased us with several brief sightings then reappeared near shore. Transients like this one tend to be sneaky, because stealth and secrecy pay off if seals are on the menu. We moved away as shafts of sunlight sifted between the clouds onto the turquoise water laden with glacial silt and drifting ice.
The beauty of more glacial ice beckoned, and after lunch we climbed into Zodiacs for a closer look. Sculptures of ice swans and dragons swam among growlers, bergie bits, and icebergs. The tinkling and snapping of ice heightened the experience as we studied the glacier itself, patiently waiting and hoping to see calving. Bundled up and wrapped in scarves and knit caps, we must have been quite a sight to the sausage-shaped harbor seals. They stared with big blank eyes from their icy resting spots, and we returned their gazes. Sunshine and hot chocolate kept us warm. We were rewarded with the sight of crashing ice breaking free of the glacier and falling with a tremendous splash. Eventually all were back aboard, where we enjoyed a delicious dinner of salmon, rib-eye, or pasta. A gorgeous sunset drew us back onto the decks, and some folks even glimpsed the elusive Green Flash, a special sighting here in Alaska.
Travelers are lured to this part of the world by the impressive wildlife, scenic beauty, and massive glaciers. Today all of these attractions combined for a fabulous final day on the Sea Lion in Southeast Alaska. Tendrils of soft clouds laced through the forested ridges at the entrance to Endicott Arm, the glaciated fiord where we planned to spend the entire day. In times long past the tongue of the Dawes Glacier stretched from its present face approximately 30 miles to Stephen’s Passage. The ship cruised inland flanked by the ice-scraped slopes and canyon walls decorated with waterfalls. A black bear foraged in the bright green vegetation with her three yearling cubs. These youngsters would have entered the world in a winter den during January or February of 2004. While the bears wandered the intertidal flats, the twittering of an eagle emerged from a nearby tree where two white-headed adults perched. A few minutes after we left the bears, an announcement came over the PA that another killer whale just surfaced in the distance. This has to be the most amazing killer whale trip ever! A single male teased us with several brief sightings then reappeared near shore. Transients like this one tend to be sneaky, because stealth and secrecy pay off if seals are on the menu. We moved away as shafts of sunlight sifted between the clouds onto the turquoise water laden with glacial silt and drifting ice.
The beauty of more glacial ice beckoned, and after lunch we climbed into Zodiacs for a closer look. Sculptures of ice swans and dragons swam among growlers, bergie bits, and icebergs. The tinkling and snapping of ice heightened the experience as we studied the glacier itself, patiently waiting and hoping to see calving. Bundled up and wrapped in scarves and knit caps, we must have been quite a sight to the sausage-shaped harbor seals. They stared with big blank eyes from their icy resting spots, and we returned their gazes. Sunshine and hot chocolate kept us warm. We were rewarded with the sight of crashing ice breaking free of the glacier and falling with a tremendous splash. Eventually all were back aboard, where we enjoyed a delicious dinner of salmon, rib-eye, or pasta. A gorgeous sunset drew us back onto the decks, and some folks even glimpsed the elusive Green Flash, a special sighting here in Alaska.
