The peaceful calm of the early morning light found us entering Kelp Bay in the northeast corner of Baranof Island. Clear skies and still waters added to the ethereal nature as we sailed into this beautiful bay. The ship slowed and dropped two landing craft so that our divers could explore the underwater realm. The ship continued on, poking its bow into the many nooks and crannies along the rocky shore.
While retrieving our landing craft, we spotted a lone humpback whale plying the waters nearby. He gave us a wonderful show, surfacing near the ship many times as he dove in search of food. The calm waters, beautiful light, and giant leviathan made this an encounter we won’t soon forget.
Eventually we headed out into the Chatham Strait and sailed north towards our intended landing at Pavlov Harbor. During our transit, our photo instructor, Linda gave a photography talk loaded with ideas and things to consider as we learn about our cameras and photograph wildlife in the days to come. After the talk, we joined several breakout groups to discuss more specific questions in further detail.
Larry brought news that our afternoon destination had been changed. We were going to swap our intended landing with another that we had planned to visit later in the voyage. We would save Pavlov Harbor for another day, for now, we were headed to Lake Eva.
After a sumptuous lunch, we quickly signed up for our afternoon adventures and gathered our gear for a beautiful afternoon ashore. As we were setting off, a floatplane made a dramatic landing and sidled up to our ship. Aboard was Steve MacLean the final member of our staff, and guests, Debbie and Mike Burns. Their flights to Sitka had been fogged out, and were finally catching up to our ship in grand style. Our landing craft brought the hikers ashore followed by the kayakers and then returned to whisk the expedition cruisers off for a discovery cruise around the bay. The naturalists and hikers set off on the improved trail towards Lake Eva. Along the way we found a thick forest with vistas overlooking the inlet below. Kayakers explored the shoreline while the Sitka spruce and tamaracks towered overhead. We returned to the ship tired from our explorations, but with great smiles all around from the wonderful afternoon.
During Recap that evening, Linda gave us some more photography tips for shooting from the ship and landing craft for the coming days. Our undersea specialist, Colin, showed us the footage from their dive this morning. It was fascinating to see all of the colors and the variety of life in such cold waters.
During dinner, the captain introduced the stewards and galley staff. The food has been irresistible, and the stewards are always there with a smile.
Orcas off the port bow! They arrived just in time for Steve Morello’s talk. The whales gave us a brilliant show, surfacing right next to our ship. The naturalists took turns giving commentary and interpreting the behavior of the marvelous creatures. Eventually the National Geographic Sea Bird turned and continued north. Steve finally gave his presentation to a captivated crowd, and answered questions late into the night.
