In recent years, HX (formerly Hurtigruten Expeditions) has won raves for the sustainability focus it has brought to expedition cruising. To wit, HX was the first cruise line to ban heavy fuel and single-use plastics; it recently launched the industry’s first battery-hybrid-powered vessels; and Dr. Verena Meraldi, a biologist, made history as the first chief scientist hired by a cruise line. This year, HX will donate more than 1,500 cabins to scientists conducting research in the field, and passengers can get in on the act by joining citizen-science projects, such as logging wildlife sightings with eBird and iNaturalist.
So it might come as little surprise that the National Audubon Society, America’s leading nonprofit dedicated to bird conservation, announced last week an exclusive partnership with the expedition cruise line.
“Their eco-friendly practices and commitment to conservation align well with Audubon’s mission,” Audubon’s chief scientist, Dr. Chad Wilsey, tells Afar. “This partnership will hopefully get more people involved in efforts to protect birds and their habitats.”
The collaboration will kick off this fall with a series of Audubon Voyages—10 sailings on five itineraries—that will take binocular-toting travelers to Antarctica, Alaska, and the Galápagos Islands. Each sailing will include a trained ornithologist or a team of local naturalist guides and will explore a variety of ecosystems for the chance to encounter rare and endemic bird species.
Audubon members get 10 percent off on the special voyages and 5 percent off other cruises.
“Audubon Voyages maximize birding opportunities by offering expert insights and trips through different ecosystems,” Dr. Wilsey says. “This enriches the experience for bird lovers, and it helps to increase understanding of birds and the places they need.”
The first itineraries will launch in the following locations, beginning in October:
Galápagos Islands
There’s a reason Charles Darwin came to these parts to study bird evolution: Of the 56 native bird species found on the archipelago, a whopping 45 are endemic, meaning they can be found here only. The chain off the coast of Ecuador is so sprawling that HX divides its itineraries into different routes. You can join Audubon on “Nine of the Best Isles (Western and Northern Route)” on October 15 or December 10, 2024, or on the “In Darwin’s Footsteps (Eastern Route)” on November 6, 2024, January 15, 2025, or February 12, 2025. While on board, keep your eyes peeled—toward the horizon and at the sea—for feathered members of the Big 15, which include the Galápagos penguin, the blue-footed booby, and the Gálapagos flamingo. Pricing for the Galápagos Audubon Voyages starts at $7,476 per person.
Antarctica
The 22-day “In-Depth Antarctica & Patagonia Expedition Southbound” itinerary (October 20) departs from Valparaiso, Chile, and hugs the rugged South American coastline, from which you’ll get the chance to see birds like Andean condors, Austral pygmy owls, and Magellanic and Humboldt penguins. Halfway through the trip, the scenery shifts dramatically as the ship ventures across the oft-treacherous Drake Passage and down to Antarctica for Days 12 through 18, during which you might encounter gentoo, chinstrap, and Adélie penguins, plus seabirds like skuas, petrels, and terns. Pricing starts at $14,973 per person for this three-week journey.
The 16-day “Antarctica & Falkland Expedition,” on the other hand, departs from Ushuaia, Argentina (on November 6 and December 14, 2024), and offers the chance to spot species like king and southern rockhopper penguins, plus Falkland Islands endemic species like the Falkland steamer duck, which gets its name because its flapping wings on the water resemble an old paddle-steamer ship. Pricing starts at $9,547 per person for the 16-day expedition.
Alaska
If you’ve ever sailed Alaska before, chances are you’ve tackled the Inside Passage or perhaps the Gulf of Alaska. The 18-day “Alaska and British Columbia Inside Passage, Bears and Aleutian Islands (Southbound)” charts a much wilder course, departing from Nome, crossing the Bering Sea, island-hopping along the Aleutians, pit-stopping at Katmai National Park, and then scooting through the Inside Passage to Vancouver.
Audubon Voyages on this route depart next year on July 7 and September 8, and because of the massive distance covered, you can expect a wide variety of species, with a special emphasis on seabirds, such as tufted puffins, whiskered auklets, black-footed albatrosses, and tiny Kittlitz’s murrelets. But for the most obsessive birders, this itinerary is all about checking off one species from your life list: the ultra-rare McKay’s bunting, a hardy white songbird that breeds only on two remote islands in the middle of the Bering Sea. Pricing starts at $8,648 per person.
