May 22, 2007

May Surprises in Alaska

May is a great time to be in Alaska, as evidenced by this report from Amanda McCutcheon.  Amanda is aboard the Spirit of Discovery, serving as an Exploration Leader for our Wilderness Inside Passage cruise.

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We saw Northern Lights! This was my first time seeing them. We were blessed last week with amazing weather. To see Northern lights in Southeast Alaska, it has to be early in the summer season when it is still dark enough, it has to be clear which can be very rare, and third, the sun flare activity has to be high. I was speaking with a few guests before bedtime and mentioned that we had two of the three necessary elements to see the northern lights. This got us all a little excited. I contacted our 2nd mate, Beth Hulsmen, and asked her to wake me up if there were northern lights. I went to bed feeling like maybe I had put out expectations that could not be met, but was wishing for the best. Around 12:20 am Beth's voice came in over the intercom box. I nearly fell out of bed and simply could not get reading fast enough. Upon arrival to the bridge I was saw an amazing display of green light dancing across the sky line. I made an "all call" announcement to crew and guests. Most people got up and our Bartender, Dave Sorensen, made a pot of hot chocolate for everyone. It was a rare and exciting moment for everyone that was outside bundled up in their pj's watching the phenomena. 

In Glacier Bay National Park we came upon a large Brown Bear that was sitting on and protecting a carcass. Possibly or most likely a moose carcass. There was a raven nearby trying to distract the bear and to get some of the valuable meat. It was an amazing interaction. The bear was so full from a large meal he could barely move to chase off the pesky bird, and the bird's diligence was amazing. It was an amazing sighting!

Posted by Amanda on May 22, 2007 8:44 AM

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