After traveling through the night, we awoke this morning in the secluded bay next to George Island. The day began with sightings of sea otters, bald eagles, and a variety of other birds. We made a shore landing in Zodiacs and split up into different adventure groups to enjoy the morning exploring George Island. We repositioned during lunch and then explored the Inian Islands in Zodiacs. We observed the bounty of wildlife drawn to this area to feed, thanks to the upwelling of nutrients caused by tidewaters rushing in between the islands from the Pacific Ocean.
9/10/2024
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National Geographic Sea Lion
Pavlof Harbor
The day started with an exciting encounter. Before breakfast we observed a group of bubble-netting humpback whales. It was incredible to see them lunge and hear them breathing at the surface. This was coupled by a glorious pink sunrise. After breakfast we took Zodiac cruises searching for bears near Pavlof Harbor. Even though we did not find any (wildlife is always delightfully unexpected), the scenery was beautiful, and we watched many adorable harbor seals. After thinking the excitement of the day was done, we spotted a large group of whales from a distance. While approaching closer, we realized this group was also bubble-net feeding. Close to the shore, we observed these whales for hours. We even dropped the hydrophone to hear their haunting feeding call before they all lunged at the surface. It was one of the most incredible things any of us had ever witnessed. As if this wasn’t enough, at our sunset recap we got the call that there were killer whales around the ship. It was the most amazing ending to the most amazing day.
