Summer 2018 Safari Endeavor Video

Here is a video I've made from this past summer of working on the SEN

Last week before break!

 So the whales finally arrived.  We got lots of bubblenetting this week.  Two shows, in fact, and lots of whales all over the place. 

 The first show was great, and right at Morris Reef, where Peril Strait meets Chatham Strait.  They were feeding for hours together and we watched.

 Then one jumped right next to the boat and it was quite the show, but I missed the shot because I was too zoomed in.  This is what I got.

 Then there were orcas!

 Then we saw another group near Point Adolphus, and one of the group had been run over by a boat, and had propeller scars.

 Then in Glacier Bay we had two Peregrine Falcons buzz over the boat and hover in our airwake for about 4 minutes, so I got a few great shots

 Possibly my best ever peregrine in flight shot:

 And of course some bears on the beach in Glacier Bay...

The Last Sitka

 The last Sitka of the season, for me, at least.  It was a great trip!  August 20 was a grand day, where I saw a dipper, drove two skiff tours, and had dall's porpoises and orcas and northern lights.  The rest of the week was great too, with the whales finally showing up.

 Here are the dall's

 And the orca!

 Here's a little baby Merganser tucked behind mama.

 And a few River Otters.

 And LeConte was a great time, with great ice.

 Marika had a nice time of it.

 A friendly Surf Scoter

 The whales finally came in, and there was a large group in fredrick sound just lounging around, eating and resting and it was nice.

 We spent all day with them

 There was also a dead whale floating around and it was dead.  and a male, if you look closely.  The dark thing on the left is the tongue, so its upside down and facing us.

  Then we saw bubblenetting! 

 Then we went to Bay of Pillars, and its a place I love.  I think its the first place I've ever been on shore with Uncruise, and I did the same hike I always do when I'm there. 

 Lots of otters and black turnstones were all over.

 The otters eating like they do

 And a falcon flew over too.

 As well as a group of Sandhill Cranes.  Fall is coming.

A difficult week

 This was a tough week, but really it started two weeks ago.  We broke our dishwasher, and since we have 36 spare dishwashers walking around the boat at all times, we have been put to the test ever since.  Its not easy finishing up a walk and then going to the dish pit and scrubbing for an hour or two, or doing a presentation, every night.  Its not the end of the world, though, so we got on with it.  Then this week the windlass broke while we were lifting the anchor and we couldn't lift it up anymore, so we had to drop that anchor and not anchor again, which means that we can't stay in one spot long enough to use our EZ dock system, so we had to bring all the kayaks to shore and then load folks from there and also mind that the tide and the bears don't make it difficult.  Its not easy for the rest of the boat either, since the bridge team all have to be on all the time, keeping watch in the bridge, keeping watch on the fantail as they send people to shore, and still managing to get the plans for the future out and the paperwork done. 
But then we also had a few people from hotel get sick so Expedition was called into doing "turn down" service, which isn't easy, but it is making the rooms nicer and cozy for sleeping in when guests get out of dinner service.  So not easy, and not typical expedition stuff. 
We did see some nice things this week, including some Murrelets, and some Orcas:

 And during the orcas we also had a cool sunset.  Here is a shot of the sun shining down on the water and the reflection from the water is shining up the hill, but the sun isn't shining straight on to the hill, so it is up lit.  I like it. 

 More pictures of Orca

 We found an octopus on the beach and it was neat looking

 Not a ton of whales, but a tail wagger

 Looking like he wants to dive

 And down he goes.

 We went into Glacier Bay and Lamplugh is still looking handsome

 And we found some nice bears on the beach at Russell Cut

 Then at South Marble Island we found a sea otter hauled out and some sea lions kicked him off his rock.

 I managed a nice puffin shot as one was flying by

 and then we got some Aurora over the bow as we headed up to Haines

Back to Sitka

 We explored Tracy Arm, with waterfalls

 and Ice..

 Pigeon Guillemots

 More Ice

 Even more

 More waterfalls

 Still more Ice

 Then to rivers, with Yellowlegs

 Seals

 Bear

 The boat

 some Pintails

 A co-guide

 and more yellowlegs