It was a beautiful morning as we approached Williams Cove, our ship surrounded by mist and fog. The sky was blue and the sun was shining as we began our hiking and kayak adventures. It was the first day of kayaking on the voyage, and we were all excited to stretch our arms and explore the waters from a new vantage point. After a beautiful sunny morning, we made our way up Endicott Arm towards South Sawyer Glacier, our afternoon destination. Once we arrived the Zodiacs were launched and we cruised up towards the glacier, through ice and rain, until we arrived at the face of this massive icy spectacle. We were surrounded by seals and crackling ice, an amazing way to end this fantastic day in South East Alaska.
9/16/2022
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National Geographic Quest
San Juan Islands - Washington
We spent our final day in the San Juan Islands, a beautiful archipelago wedged between Washington State and the south end of Vancouver Island. We began the day by docking in Friday Harbor to clear U.S. Customs before exploring the small town that has become famous across the world for its iconic whale watching. Over the last couple of decades, the resident southern orca whales that have come to define this place have shrunk in numbers due to a variety of factors, including overfishing, climate change, and depleted salmon habitats. Hard-working people at the Whale Research Center and the nearby whale museum are working hard to educate the public and enact laws to protect salmon habitats and provide more space for the orcas among the boat traffic and people that love them so much. Many of us took the opportunity to visit the whale museum near the dock, where the life histories and family trees of these amazing animals have been meticulously documented for decades. In the afternoon, we cruised a short distance north to Jones Island, a marine state park with a maze of trails and campsites framed by a gorgeous forest of cedar, fir, and madrone trees. To cap off our two-week excursion through the Inside Passage, we sailed through the last of the San Juan Islands while an epic sunset bid us farewell.
