Today is our last day of exploration in Svalbard before we head into the open ocean, visit Bear Island, and then go to mainland Norway. In order to make the most of the last day, we visited Horsund, the southernmost fjord system in Svalbard. Tall and majestic cliffs surrounded National Geographic Endurance . Our guests departed for multiple activities, including long and medium walks and Zodiac cruises. The Zodiac cruises took some of our guests far inside the fjord, reaching the glacier front. What an impressive place to be for our last day in Svalbard. And with no sunset, during dinner we made our way in search of new adventures.
The sun barely sets right now in Southeast Alaska, and quite a few people were on the bow of National Geographic Quest before 6:00 a.m. It is often said, the vigilant on the bow are rewarded, and before breakfast this morning, we saw a brown bear, a couple Sitka black tail deer, Dall’s porpoises, and humpback whales. After breakfast, we had several briefings, but we were interrupted by a group of humpback whales near the shore. In the afternoon, everyone had the opportunity to set foot in the Tongass National Rainforest for the first time. Guests went kayaking, and a few enjoyed a beach walk. It was a pretty amazing first day for our expedition.
The Fairweather Range might have the most misleading name of any peaks in the world. The summits, which rise 15,000+ feet in some cases, lie between the open Pacific Ocean and Alaska’s Inside Passage. This positioning means they are often shrouded in clouds, exposed to high winds, and pummeled by precipitation. Today, for National Geographic Sea Bird , this was not the case. Mt. Fairweather and the surrounding peaks were in full view on an uncharacteristically bluebird day as we explored the coastlines of the Inian Islands and George Island. We anchored first at the Hobbit Hole, a protected area near the Inian Islands. The small rocky islets here lie at the base of the Fairweathers and are home to a huge diversity of marine life: Steller sea lions, sea otters, bald eagles, cormorants, porpoises, and whales. We took to our Zodiacs for early morning cruises to get up close and personal with these animals that feed on the abundant waters. Afterwards, the Global Explorers tried their hands at driving the Zodiacs in lessons with the field staff, and they helped to collect plankton samples from the waters around the islands. In the afternoon, we repositioned to George Island where we found opportunities for hiking and kayaking. On land, the naturalist team shared some of the exciting flora that thrive in the temperate rainforest. The kayakers paddled through kelp forests and alongside massive rock arches that result when you place a rocky island in the way of wave action from the Northern Pacific. All the while, the peaks of the Fairweathers served as a backdrop, underscoring how wild this place truly is.
One of the greatest things about a Lindblad Expedition is that even when weather prevents you from doing a planned excursion, it never means doing nothing for the day. In true expedition style, it means exploring the possibilities and figuring out an incredible plan B. Today was one of those days. Even though our initial plans were cancelled by weather, the day turned into an incredible adventure and in my mind, it was one of the best days of the expedition so far. We started early with a visit to Stac Lee, a sea stack with hundreds of thousands of gannets nesting on the island. It hosts the largest gannet colony in Scotland. When our planned visit to St. Kilda was cancelled, we set off to the Isle of Lewis to visit the Stones of Callanish, a spectacular megalithic monument dating back to 3000 BC.
Guests onboard National Geographic Endeavour II spent the day exploring Española Island. Two options were offered this morning to explore the marine realm of the island; passengers could either go to the beach to receive tips and tricks from their naturalists in order to maximize their snorkeling experience throughout the week, or they could disembark for deep water snorkeling at Gardner Islet. Deep water snorkelers joined beachgoers on the beach after snorkeling at Gardner Islet. In the afternoon, we disembarked for a hike at Punta Suarez. The physical characteristics of the island are indicative of its age. Islands have a life cycle themselves; when they grow older, they become flatter as landmasses erode and sink into the sea. Española is the oldest island in the Galapagos and one of the flattest. Given that evolutionary processes have been occurring for millions of years on Española, it is home to several species that cannot be found on any other island in the archipelago. Some species endemic to Española Island include the mockingbird, lava lizard, ground finch, a marine iguana subspecies, and the waved albatross. We were overjoyed to see so many waved albatrosses on the trail today. Many individuals were incubating eggs, and mating pairs preened and engaged in ceremonial dances. The albatrosses leave land in January to feed on the nutrient rich waters of Peru until they return in April. Upon their return, they find their mate and begin the business of producing offspring. Courtship ceremonies are observed throughout the year while the birds are still in Española, often by unmated individuals or pairs that have not hatched a chick. They are the only albatross species to live in the tropics. These albatrosses have one of the largest wingspans of any bird on the planet. Española ground finches and large cactus finches were also spotted. Blue-footed boobies lined the trail with several pairs caring for very young hatchlings. Toward the end of the trail, guests enjoyed observing the blowhole at Punta Suarez. Families took turns snapping action shots with this impressive view. Photo caption and photographer: A waved albatross incubates an egg right along the trail at Punta Suarez. The albatross will rear a single hatchling per season. The waved albatross is considered critically endangered, with approximately 33,000 individuals in the world. Photo by Alexandra Widman
