Our first full day of the voyage began travelling up the always scenic Tracy Arm Fjord. We made our way to South Sawyer Glacier where we got into our expedition landing crafts to get a closer look at this majestic river of ice. After our ice tours we headed out of Holkham Bay and into Stephens Passage where we were treated to orcas, humpbacks, and sunshine!
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 13 Jun 2023
Tracy Arm and Stephens Passage, 6/13/2023, National Geographic Sea Bird
- Aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird
- Alaska
Nathan Kelley, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor
Nathan Kelley developed his love for nature as a kid at his family’s cabin in Northern Wisconsin. Family fishing trips, camping, hiking and a trip to his first National Park in the Everglades, all vigorously shaped his passion for the natural world. ...
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Alaska Escape: LeConte Bay, Wrangell and Misty Fjords
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5/29/2025
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Endicott Arm
Dawes Glacier, located at the head of Endicott Arm in Southeast Alaska, is an active tidewater glacier in the remote Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness Area. Reaching the glacier requires a 30-mile journey through a narrow fjord lined with sheer rock walls rising over 3,000 feet. These cliffs are veined with waterfalls and often blanketed in mist. Throughout the fjord, remnants of the glacier float in the form of icebergs. The glacier feeds cold, silty meltwater into the fjord, giving the water a distinctive milky-green hue and supporting a rich marine food web. Harbor seals were hauled out on ice floes near the glacier. Gulls and Arctic terns were actively feeding, likely drawn by the small fish and plankton concentrated by the glacial outflow. The glacier calved several times, hurling large chunks of ice across the water’s surface, sending the birds fleeing. The sound of the ice hitting the water echoed off the steep rock walls that rise thousands of feet on either side.
5/27/2025
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Dawes Glacier in Endicott Arm
We could not have asked for a better way to end the expedition. Our last day was amazing! Visiting Dawes Glacier in Endicott Arm was a highlight with its crystal-blue ice and resting harbor seals floating by on the ice. In the evening, we even got to see a couple of humpback whales off the bow of the ship. We ended the day by watching images of the beautiful moments created on our expedition during the famed guest photo slideshow.