Our first morning in Southeast Alaska brought a mixture of weather, as we exited the east end of Peril Strait between Baranof and Chichagof islands. We were entering another larger body of water called Chatham Strait, then turning south, and heading toward our destination for morning activities. This destination was a large inlet called Kelp Bay, where we hoped to possibly find some early morning wildlife, maybe whales, or even a brown bear along the shore. Luck was with us, and right at the mouth of the bay we encountered several humpback whales busily feeding on the rich marine life in the area. We pressed on deeper into the bay, and spotted a brown bear feeding along the shoreline. A great way to start off our first morning!
As breakfast was announced National Geographic Sea Lion turned and headed for an island back near the entrance, called Pond Island. This would be the site for our first activities of the voyage: hiking, kayaking and Zodiac cruising. So right after breakfast we took care of all our mandatory briefings, got our gear on, and headed to shore for a little over two hours.
Once on shore, we separated into several hiking groups: photo, short, medium and a longer, more adventuresome exploration. Kayakers launched their boats into the calm, protected waters, while a few guests went for the more casual mode of exploration, a Zodiac cruise!
Soon it was back on board for lunch, and the start of our northbound afternoon cruise up Chatham Strait. Several photo presentations were offered while we cruised northward during the afternoon. There was another brown bear spotted on shore, a few Dall’s porpoise along the way, and some wonderful rainbows appearing “off and on” as small rain squalls worked their way through the area.
Then, just like that, it was cocktail hour and recap time, where the staff shared more information about today, and what we might expect tomorrow. Suddenly it was dinner time, with one more naturalist presentation to end this first, very full day of our expedition
