Juneau What We Did Today?

Brilliant day today. Just arrived back on board after an exhilarating and fun day out. In fact the excitement started even before breakfast, with sightings of whales from our stateroom balcony shortly before 7.00am: up to 15 in total in small groups of 2 or 3 at a time. 

Route inland, first north then east - but not on the cruise ship.....

By 9.00am we were all set to board the catamaran that had pulled alongside our cruise ship for a thrilling day out. The benefit of joining a smaller vessel was the ability for it to go deep into the Tracey Arm Fjord for a really up close look at the ice floes and for possible wildlife sightings - and on both accounts we weren't disappointed. Before long, entering Stephen's Passage (yes really !!!) we were treated to the sight of a black bear and her two cubs on the shoreline, a bald eagle and pigeon guillemots all before the main event of the day. Photos are sadly not up to much, largely as a result of low mist and fog, and later pretty heavy rain, but the images will remain in our memories for a while to come. 

Black bear and cubs playing on the beach

Next the cat was navigated up around Big Bend and we turned sharply east, towards the deep glaciers. South Sawyer Glacier has, until 3 weeks ago, remained inaccessible since last year and today, with renewed determination by our pilot not to be outdone by his colleague who had made it through on that occasion, we nudged slowly through the most incredible 'fields' of multiple small icebergs to access the stunningly beautiful glacier. 

South Sawyer Glacier - blue as a result of fresh water meeting salt water. 

And as if that weren't enough, en route to a second glacier, Sawyer, a large group of harbour seals were spotted lolling about on the ice! 

Harbour seals, keeping out of harms way, not from man or a catamaran full of excited tourists, but from the orca, for whom they represent lunch. The pilot did an incredible job of navigating through the ice. The noise was something else! 

Sawyer Glacier - much more sheer and prone to 'calving', but not today. 

Yet more thrills still to come - unexpected and incredibly rare - a gam of 8 humpback whales ('pod' is used for Dolphins) all swimming together, starting their long migratory journey to Hawaii to overwinter and breed, before returning next spring to feed and put on weight. The excitement of the crew was palpable. My attempts at photography were largely abandoned in favour of enjoying the moment, but I did catch one fluke (tail) and the blow of another in one shot - though not easy to see. 

And so to land in the capital of Alaska, Juneau. Still sadly raining and so plans to take an independent bus out to another glacier were put aside in favour of the warmth, jollity, cold beer and live music at the world famous Red Dog Saloon. Fantastic end to the day. 

Guilty pleasure?

Check out the liquor options or the saloon favourites - ha ha. We opted for local beer on tap - and a singalong!