National Geographic Sea Lion departed the dock in Juneau after midnight and cruised south. We awoke to discover a beautiful, sunny day. Turning eastward, we navigated carefully in the channel between buoys to cross the Tracy Arm “bar” into Holkham Bay. Because it was low tide, the terminal moraine was partially exposed and icebergs were stranded on either side of the channel. Marbled murrelets were one of the bird species dotting the surface, diving to “fly” underwater using their wings in pursuit of small fish. A puffin relative, this is a seabird (rare in some places) that nests in old-growth forest. Both forest and ocean habitats need to be protected for this small bird to flourish.
We pulled into Williams Cove, anchored the vessel, and lowered our expedition landing crafts and kayaks for our morning exploration. The kayakers had shoreline and icebergs to explore in the tranquil bay. Hikers had an introduction to the forest, its vegetation, fungi, and ecological cycles. There were many signs of bears – tracks and scat – that use the same trail as we do. It’s a good year for berries and they are ripe now. We sampled blue, salmon, twisted stalk, and nagoon, leaving plenty for the bears.
In the afternoon we made our way to the head of Endicott Arm where further passage is blocked by the immense Dawes Glacier, which tumbles to the sea from the Stikine Icefield. Many hues of blue peeked out between aerated white ice.
There was stunning scenery in all directions. Precipitous walls of rock soared skyward; snow and ice-fed silty streams cascaded to sea level. U-shaped valleys and rounded topography are evidence of a past ice age, when there were a few thousand feet of ice covering the landscape. We cruised toward the face of the glacier in our expedition inflatable boats, keeping a safe distance in case of calving ice. Our patience was rewarded with several episodes of “white thunder”! A few harbor porpoises, harbor seals, Arctic terns, and a variety of gulls share this area for food and reproduction – essentials for all living organisms.
Hordes of birds (mostly scoters) congregated in the sunset. A full moon and forested mountains were the backdrop for a humpback whale as the final event of our extraordinary first day aboard National Geographic Sea Lion.
