Why is he a darned grizzly bear? Because he chose to amble across the beach 150 yards away from the Nautilus Explorer in the middle of my morning briefing. Cheeezzzz, how am I supposed to do a briefing when all the guests are running for their cameras and binoculars?! Anchored up in beautiful and scenic Secret Bay today. I hesitate to publish the topographic name of this bay because (a) it is so beautiful (b) we have had really good luck with grizzly bears here (c) there is an amazing grotto of marble accessible up the stream (d) when the salmon return to this stream, it is a great place to snorkel with them and (e) we have a permit with the good graces of the U.S. Forest Service that allows our guests stroll, walk and hike through the rainforest here
Read MoreIt is always a pleasure and a good time having Captain Phil Sammet, his lovely wife, beautiful daughter and all his friends onboard the Nautilus Explorer. Through his many scuba diving charters on the Nautilus, Phil has steadfastly stuck to 2 traditions (a) he will paint the toenails of any anybody that he is able to sneak up on if they are having a nap on a couch in the main salon (b) every trip must conclude with a game of Nautilus Jeopardy with questions based on the many (interesting?) facts presented during my various dive and natural history briefings throughout the trip.
Read MoreJust imagine calm glassy water with the vivid green of tall spruce, hemlock and fir trees towering along the shoreline and then steep granite cliffs that transition into snow covered mountains rising over 3000 feet right above us. Top it off with a roaring waterfall and the odd grizzly bear wandering around the estuary and it becomes hard to imagine anything more beautiful.
Read MoreI made a fast 180° turn in the Nautilus to keep them in sight and was taken aback when I realized that they were swarming a large adult humpback whale. It was hard to see exactly what was going on because of all the splashing. I assumed that the orcas were actually attacking a humpback whale calf and that the mom was defending her offspring from the orcas. Despite all the excited splashing and fin slapping and all the other stuff going on, we weren’t able to see a calf and can only assume that the orcas took a run at the adult humpback. I’ve never heard of such a thing before!
Read MoreImagine being anchoring between a gorgeous 150 foot high waterfall off the bow and a pile of snow 250 feet high off the stern while hemmed into a narrow fjord with steeply rising sides that start with hemlock and fir trees 150 feet high in beautiful, different hues of green and then rises up to snowfields and jagged granite mountain peaks 3000 feet above. Incredible stuff. To top it off, picture a good looking grizzly bear grazing in the sedge grass 400 feet from the Nautilus Explorer.
Read MoreStarted today off with a hike along Sweetheart Creek, hoping to find grizzly (coastal brown) bears. When the salmon start returning and fighting their way upriver, this is a fabulous spot to watch grizzly bears. We have seen up to 5 grizzly bears at one time here.
Read MoreOur poor guests – some folks were on the port side of the ship watching the bears (which got especially interesting when the grizzlies spotted something further down the beach and got up on their hind legs to get a better view) while other guests were on the starboard side watching the fantastic humpback whale action. And some poor guests were running back and forth to both sides of the boat trying to watch everything at once!!
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