Jim Pfitzer, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor
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Daily Expedition
Reports
02 Oct 2021
Astoria, Oregon, 10/2/2021, National Geographic Sea Lion
Aboard the
National Geographic Sea Lion
Pacific Northwest
The day dawned foggy misty and rather cold, and like all days on the National Geographic Sea Lion, things just got better and better. We zipped all over the lower Columbia Valley and visited Fort Stevens, the only place on the U.S. mainland shelled during WW2. We learned about the gun emplacements and the guns themselves and some of the men who operated them. The grounds of Fort Stevens proved to be the best cedar waxwing viewing grounds we have come across, also lots of ravens. We then visited the forlorn wreck of the Peter Iredale, beautiful and poignant.
Fort Clatsop is always a sort of a high-energy place to visit because Lewis and Clark were right here! We talked Lewis and Clark and all things temperate rain forest. We identified some useful plants that grow near the fort and what they are used for both then and now. A very good day on the lower Columbia!
Owen B Walker was born in Moab, Utah and raised in very rural North Idaho. He graduated high school in Palmer, Alaska, where Northwest Native Art first stirred his soul. After achieving a degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Western Washington Unive...
An autodidact, Jim has spent a lifetime studying and exploring what he refers to as “the intersection of human progress and wildness.” Stumbling on the writings of Aldo Leopold in his early twenties—namely Leopold’s essay Thinking Like a Mountain —la...
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National Geographic Sea Bird climbed up the Columbia River. The ship made its way from the temperate rainforest across the deep and narrow basalt cliffs of the Columbia Gorge and into the dry sagebrush-steppe landscape of Crow Butte. The transformation took just a few hours. As the sun rose across the sharply edged riverine lines, guests sipped coffee and enjoyed breakfast. Afterwards, we enjoyed an expert talk on “Soils and Raptors” by naturalist and “Raptor Extraordinaire,” Zoey Greenberg. Emerging from Celilo Falls and the Long Narrows, we shuttled upstream to Crow Butte Island. Guests enjoyed aerobic nature walks around the island in the morning. Returning to National Geographic Sea Bird , guests enjoyed an afternoon of cruising through the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge and educational presentations on “Salmon, Dams, and the Columbia River Treaty,” by Patrick MacQuarrie, river historian, and “Geology of the Columbia River Basin,” by the multitalented naturalist wizard, Jesse Humbert. Crow Butte and the refuge offered a plethora of birdlife for the guests’ enjoyment, including grebes, great blue herons, double-crested cormorants, American white pelicans, bald eagles, northern harriers, red-tailed hawks, kestrels, and several types of geese, including snow geese, cackling geese, and Canada geese. We also spotted buffleheads, widgeons, mallards, coots, gulls, and several sparrows. While naturalists wooed the “Sea Bird Nation” with natural science and history stories, the ship transited McNary Lock. The lock lifted National Geographic Sea Bird up 75-feet into Lake Wallula, eventually passing Wallula Gap and entering the Snake River by dinner. Once again, National Geographic Sea Bird made the once impossible journey possible. This was first accomplished by Lewis and Clark in 1805 and 1806 on their historic journey to open the West to a young and eager country. Photographers: Patrick MacQuarrie, River Historian and Naturalist ; Dr. Robert Jason, Guest ; and Kim Nesbitt, Photo Instructor
Dawn broke cold but clear with temperatures in the high 40s and partly cloudy skies. It was wonderful weather for an exploration of the transition zone between the temperate rainforest of the past two days and the shrub-steppe that begins here and dominates the landscape heading east.
Today we had a wonderful introduction to the gorgeous farmland and industry of the Columbia River ecosystem. From experiencing the “Fruit Loop” to a salmon hatchery to a wonderful farm-to-table lunch, it was a beautiful day.
