We start our morning aboard National Geographic Venture in Peril Strait, the main waterway that leads from Chatham Strait and on through a series of narrows to the town of Sitka in Southeast Alaska. Our destination for the morning and afternoon is Saook Bay, a quiet protected inlet that was once the site of a logging operation. We spend the morning viewing bald eagles in spruce trees, Sitka black-tailed deer on the beach, and a lone harbor seal from the observation deck. After breakfast we head to the beach for early afternoon photo walks, beach hikes and bushwhacks, and a gentle kayak adventure at the head of Saook; all the while we listen to the shrill calls of varied thrushes and enjoy the gentle solace of the grassy marshes of the back bay. Our evening is spent cruising slowly through Peril Strait near Deadman’s Reach, where we spot a playful pod of Dall’s porpoises and two humpback whales in the evening light. We have enjoyed a magnificent journey seeing new sites and making new friends. We look forward to our day tomorrow in Sitka.