It was a short night on board National Geographic Sea Lion. Just before midnight our expedition leader, Anna, woke everyone for northern lights! Clear skies were filled with stars, and the aurora borealis glowed at the edge of the northern sky. Ribbons of green with a dark purple backdrop greeted everyone on the bow. For many on board it was their first time seeing the northern lights, truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
We had another wake-up call at 6:45 a.m., this time for a customs stop entering United States waters. We were met by two very nice customs officers, and our entry into home waters went well. Our vessel then continued up Behm Canal, watching for the enormous marker of New Eddystone Rock. This volcanic plug, left over from a violent geologic history, marks the entry into Rudyard Bay and eventually Misty Fjords, where we spent the remainder of our day kayaking and Zodiac cruising.
Misty Fjords is one of eighteen National Monuments in Alaska; it consists of 3,570 square miles of untouched shorelines, towering granite cliffs carved by glaciers 17,000 years ago, and is covered in coastal temperate rainforest.
