Our overnight transit led us to Clarence Strait and nearby Grindall Island, where the day dawned calm, warm, and sunny. Morning activities included hiking through a beautiful forest of yellow cedar, western hemlock, Sitka spruce and shore pine, as well as circumnavigating the island in our expedition landing craft. Hikers put ashore carefully navigated the rocky intertidal zone and then, with one giant step, entered a moss draped forest where Pacific wrens and golden-crowned kinglets alternately welcomed and scolded us.
In the afternoon, we visited the Hump Bay Oyster Company where Pacific oysters are grown in the cold, clean, nutrient-rich waters of Southeast Alaska near Ketchikan. The tour included a touch tank as well as sampling the delicious oysters.
Steve began watching whales in 1986 off the California coast, far from his North Dakota homeland. A long the way he studied natural history at the Evergreen State College in Washington state (1982) and has been busy ever since working as an environmental educator, field biologist, animal tracker, hawk counter, wildlife trip leader, nature program supervisor, and as a shipboard naturalist with Lindblad Expeditions for fifteen years. He enjoys helping others see the unnoticed connections between whatever is in their field of view. He’s also known to sing a song or two to help make the connections clear.
In this landscape of rock and sea, everything is at the mercy of ice. For 15 sinuous miles, during the early hours of the morning, we transited the overwhelming topography of Tracy Arm, one of the fjord systems that makes up Tracy Arm-Ford’s Terror Wilderness Area. Our eastbound progress aboard the
National Geographic Sea Bird
ended at the juncture where the Sawyer and South Sawyer glaciers parted ways in the early 1900s. Now, over 100 years later, the South Sawyer Glacier is roughly 4 miles further east and the object of our desire during our morning Zodiac cruises.
Through ice-peppered water we motored within humbling distance of this 120 feet wall of ice that seemed to be coming apart at the seams. Piece after noisy piece of glacial ice was born to the sea during our stay, punctuating the overwhelming scenery with claps of what locals call “white thunder.”
In the 4 miles that separated our ship from the glacier, there have been many changes to the landscape since I first started coming here 15 years ago. One of the most pronounced was the addition of an island. Now, roughly a mile from the glacier’s face, it is the newest geological feature to have emerged since the South Sawyer Glacier began its most recent advance during the Little Ice Age in the 1600s. This tiny little island, exposed for less than 10 years has, to my knowledge, no name yet. Composed of metamorphosed rock known as gneiss, it has just started to harbor small trees and a few plants and represents a stark reminder of the forces at play in this ever developing, ever changing landscape of rock and sea and ice.
Today was the final full day of the expedition. Guests woke up to see the breath-taking scenery of Walker Cove, a large bay near the town of Ketchikan. After a hearty breakfast, guests were able to take some kayaks and paddleboards to explore the fascinating area. Following this individual exploration, some brave guests took a “polar plunge” to fully experience the icy cold water of Southeast Alaska. Guests described the day as wonderful, having the perfect mix of activity and relaxation.
Text by Hannah Tuinman, age 18, National Geographic Global Explorer
