An early morning hike allowed sea goers to get off the ship before breakfast and stretch their legs with options of hiking through the forest or visiting a Tlingit tribal house. A lengthy immersive experience in the national park provided for wildlife viewing and stunning icy scenery.
Although Hannah did not grow up adventuring in the outdoors or traveling around the world, she stumbled upon these in university and it has become two of her biggest passions. From guiding multi-day backpacking trips in southern Utah, to working on glaciers and rivers around the world, she finds true joy in showing others pristine nature. After working in backcountry lodges in interior Alaska, she has fallen in love with the arctic environment. It is not uncommon for her to spend the summers in the Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere, maximizing the warm climate and sunshine. With a few months off to travel around the world in between- experiencing culture and finding the smaller remote towns to go for a hike or a backpacking trip, she leaves pieces of her heart all over the world.
Amy has spent several seasons working in Antarctica at both McMurdo Station and Palmer Station, where she supported scientific research for the United States Antarctic Program. Wintering at McMurdo Station and experiencing 24-hours of darkness and -60°F temperatures, she found a true passion for the polar regions and is devoted to sharing this with others.
The very first day of our sure-to-be-epic adventure from Southeast Alaska down the inside passage to Seattle was beautiful. A mostly sunny day began by introducing the expedition staff and the expedition plan. We learned about Zodiacs, how to avoid bear contact, and the proper way to paddle a kayak or stand-up paddleboard. After lunch,
National Geographic Venture
sailed into Takatz Bay and deployed small boats and kayaks for an afternoon of watersport activities.
Sitkoh Bay is an extraordinary place to visit here in Southeast Alaska. Guests on board
National Geographic Venture
awoke in a place of peace and quiet. Water within the bay remained completely still as our vessel approached the anchoring. Quickly, Zodiacs were lowered onto the water’s surface – a shear sign of another day of adventure. Everyone on board was given the opportunity to hike on the trail or kayak along the shore banks. Kayakers explored the shallow coastline, noticing many sea jellies within the water column. Hikers spent their time walking under the forest canopy, stepping carefully to not disturb any banana slugs in the middle of the trail. After morning operations were complete and lunch commenced, our captain moved our expedition party into Chatham Strait to search for wildlife. Humpback whales, breaching salmon, and even Dall’s porpoises were spotted on the beautiful last day of our voyage.
Perfect weather allowed for ideal conditions to explore the Inian Islands today! We started off the day by Elfin Cove, getting the opportunity to hear from Mary Jo who told us about life in her little village. Later we stretched our legs off the ship and walked around the small village taking in the beauty of the houses, boats, trees, as well as the local museum and shops.
We returned to the ship for some lunch and then spent a perfect afternoon taking guided Zodiac tours of the islands. The clear skies allowed for views of the Fairweather mountain range. Among the kelp and islands, we spotted sea lions and sea otters playing. On the rocky islands and on the water, alcids, cormorants, bald eagles, rhinoceros Auklets, and gulls perched and flocked.
As the day progressed, we were lucky enough to perform two DropCam deployments while in the Inian Islands. The DropCam is a 4K camera encased in a glass sphere and rated to a depth of 6,000 meters. It was created by engineers at National Geographic and has been deployed over 500 times since its first mission. In an effort to get more DropCams exploring what’s in the deep sea, National Geographic, Lindblad Expeditions, and MIT teamed up for a pilot program that provides DropCam training to Lindblad undersea specialists and MIT researchers so that they can deploy the cameras and communicate their findings to passengers, turning the expedition ship into a research vessel.
The first deployment was near Elfin Cove, where we successfully dropped the camera about 250 feet down and retrieved it right before lunch. The video showed marine snow, zooplankton, and jellyfish. The second drop was a bit more mysterious. We were in the Inian Islands and seemed to have successfully dropped the camera, but about an hour into the four-hour mission, the camera surfaced, and was spotted by the ship’s captain and picked up from the water. The camera turns on and off in cycles, and it had not turned on even once before it was brought back to the ship. Because the burn wire, buoy, and rope were all intact, it is a mystery why it would have come up before the anchor was physically pulled. Our best guess is that an upwelling pushed it from the bottom, and it didn’t make its way back down.
We finished the day with an entertaining and informative recap and a delicious dinner, while the kids onboard enjoyed a pizza and movie night without the bothersome adults.
