The dark bear marches towards us, her powerful front legs swinging in a bowlegged walk. A large, lighter colored male follows her. The corners of his mouth curve upward in a sort of permanent smile. But the foam on “Smiley’s” lips and his clacking teeth make the situation less amusing. The large hump between their shoulders leaves no doubt that …

We leave No Name Cove in early morning sunlight. No other boats are in sight, and the only sound is the clanking of the anchor being pulled up, and then the distinctive ka-chunk ka-chunk of the M/V David B’s engine. As we motor into Stephens Passage, mist blurs the spruce forest along the shore, and dense fog obliterates all but …

Rumbles and booms like a thunderstorm echo all night long in Tarr Inlet. It’s not a storm but our neighbor, the Margerie glacier, calving icebergs a mile away at the head of the inlet. Waves from the falling ice rock the boat, usually gently, but sometimes more vigorously, which I find a bit unnerving. The next morning, the glassy bay …