We spent the day in the cool embrace of the coastal temperate rain forest. We began our exploration in the misty forest of the lower bay and traveled back in time with the calving face of Sawyer Glacier, where there hasn’t been enough time for a forest to grow.
9/2/2021
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National Geographic Sea Bird
It rained today. It rained all day. It’s Southeast Alaska—it’s supposed to rain. We’ve been spoiled by the last two days of warm sunshine but the return to a more normal temperate rainforest day didn’t hamper our excitement. Today was a day of adventure, today we went somewhere new. Somewhere our expedition leader, Sarah Friedlander, picked out on a map based on topography and what little information she could gather. We explored the Etolin wilderness today, and it did not disappoint. We spent our morning kayaking amongst thousands of moon jellies and then ventured in Zodiacs up a stream teeming with pink salmon. We then continued north to Steamer Bay where we were able to hike along the margins of an active salmon stream, and across meadows filled with evidence of bear activity and into old growth forest. The salmon carcasses were everywhere, having been transported by birds and bears away from the stream. Traffic jams of pink salmon backed up at forks in the rapids, all pushing up the current. The wildlife was as abundant as the rain. We were all soaked through by the end of the day, but it was so very worth it to see Alaska in this way: wild, pristine, untouched. Absolutely the best day of the season.
9/2/2021
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National Geographic Sea Lion
A classic Southeast Alaska morning was shaping up as we entered Pavlof Bay. A light drizzle was coming down and not a bit of breeze rippled the surface of the pocket-sized harbor. The National Geographic Sea Lion dropped anchor with a rattle of the chain rode in the hawse pipe. A fragrant mist hung in the air as the ship’s crew dropped boats from the Lido deck. Directly after breakfast guests and field staff disembarked the ship’s fantail to the shore boats heading for the stream that outflows from Pavlof Lake. The small lake, a short hike and 75-foot elevation gain by trail above sea level. The highlight of the morning was viewing several Alaskan brown bears from the shore just below the streams waterfall and also viewing bears from Zodiacs drifting in the creek. The pink salmon pushed upstream against the current jumping over boulders lodged in the cascading torrent. These fish were ready to spawn. Several flopped in the shallow parts tailing up stream making easy prey for the five bears foraging and playing in the stream. Before lunch all guests were back aboard as the ship got underway for Chatham Strait to look for whales and other sea life. Low-lying clouds hung in the forest and a slight south wind was making a choppy sea state as the ship cruised on a southwest course. In the distance, bushy blows from foraging humpback whales could be seen from the bow. During the cocktail hour Nathan Kelly presented the guest photo slide show and Mark Coger previewed the Video Chronicle. This final day to our Alaskan Wild Escape was a memorable one.
9/1/2021
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National Geographic Sea Bird
At the extreme southernmost latitude of Southeast Alaska is a place called Grindall Island. Infamously remembered for its part in the fur trade, this bear-free island was once choice real estate for farming fox. Vestiges of this once-thriving market can still be seen along the trail leading from a small forest service cabin near today’s landing beach. Dense forest dominates our hikes here and that density was palpable today. No more than 50 feet of forest separates the expansive audio scape of the open ocean from the muffled tones of the temperate rain forest. Walking inland was like donning a pair of noise-canceling headphones, where sound is dampened to a nearly inaudible hum. The only thing to break the silence were small passerines chittering in the distance. A small lake was the morning’s destination for most, preempted by various species of bog-loving plants and punctuated by the sweet, unadulterated sound of silence. Back on the forest edge we changed speeds and took to the Zodiacs for a circumnavigation of Grindall Island. Clear waters and intertidal animals hugged the shore while annual residents like the Peale’s peregrine falcon perched above the waterline. Dominating the seascape and olfactory senses was a haul-out of Steller sea lions. Noisily jostling and roaring for space atop their all too small rocks, these largest members of the sea lion family were none too concerned with our presence, offering plenty of entertainment from our perspective on the water. While transiting to our afternoon destination we were sidetracked by four humpback whales busily coordinating with each other in a feeding strategy we call bubble-net feeding. Under a warm sun and blue skies, we watched this small group encircle, rise through, and engulf schools of small fish time after time until we had to pull away for our afternoon on Hump Island. Hump Island Oyster Farm personifies small scale business practices with Alaskan grit and resourcefulness. The afternoon was spent touring this family-run oyster farm and learning about the ways these locals have learned to harvest a species that would not survive in these waters without them. Between guided tours of the operations facilities and an incredible spread of food and, of course, oysters, the afternoon was a culinary and educational highlight.
