In the early morning, National Geographic Sea Bird docked in the charming town of Petersburg, a town built on fish with a Norwegian heritage. Guests on the photo walk captured images of famous structures and reflections in the waters at high tide. As we walked around town and took part in muskeg hikes, bike rides, and local tours, the nature of this authentic Alaskan town and the people who live here really showed us the character of Southeast Alaska. Back on board the ship, we ended our fun day in Petersburg with an Alaskan crab feast.
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 07 Sep 2024
Petersburg, Alaska, 9/7/2024, National Geographic Sea Bird
- Aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird
- Alaska
Bryan Holliday, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor
Bryan comes from Illinois, where he was visited by an American Robin at the age of four. This remarkable encounter began his lifelong interest in birds, which led him to study at the University of Illinois, where he earned his B.S. in Ecology and as...
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Voyage to Alaska, British Columbia and Haida Gwaii
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5/11/2025
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National Geographic Sea Bird
Glacier Bay National Park
We had a phenomenal day at Glacier Bay National Park. The sun was out, as was the wildlife. The bow was the place to be. Please enjoy the dialogue of the day from the bow: Ah, Lovely Sunrise. Dall’s porpoise! Killer whales! Oo, swans! Calving center! Bald eagle on ice. Brown bear, That’s a big one. Bald eagle in nest. I wish someone would find me a marmot. Marmot at 10! Where? Do you see that crack in the rock? To the left you’ll see a tree. Now go below the tree to the round rock. 6 goats plus bonus outcast goat. Low goats on ledge, wedged in nicely. Goats, goats everywhere, and a marmot here or there. Two puffins. Nice beak action. It’s like “I Spy” out here. Low goat at 11. Oh, really low goat. Oh, yea that’s a fella. Goats looking right at us, folks, good goat face. Oh, and whale spots at 1. Oh boy, I’m exhausted. That’s ok, take it one goat at a time. There’s a spout off the point. Classic humpback. Oh, glaucous winged gulls nesting at 2. And otters! Fly by puffins! Porpoising harbor porpoise! Needless to say, we had a good time. Photo by Shannon Malone
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National Geographic Sea Bird
Tracy Arm
As we continued our way north through Alaska, we had a favorite stop of mine in Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness. We had a rainy day, which I enjoy because we can see at higher elevations since the rain turns to snow and, in turn, the snow feeds the absorption zone of the Sawyer Glaciers. We went out in the Zodiacs and navigated around the icebergs and bergy bits, even collecting a piece for the ice melt-off challenge. Once underway out of Tracy Arm, we saw some humpback whales. One whale had an entanglement of line on its fluke. The line was causing an obvious cut to the marine mammal. The correct authorities were notified about the condition of the whale and location of the sighting. Hopefully the whale will be assisted soon and the entanglement removed. Several other humpbacks were seen shortly after, luckily no entanglements on these. They were demonstrating surface feeding behavior, with one lunge feeding and the other making bubbles to catch its prey.