Cruising Chatham Strait & Kelp Island
With days so long, we were up and about before 6am. A slight drizzle bothered us momentarily, but we were ever on the bow of the National Geographic Sea Bird on the lookout for wildlife.
Quite a few sea birds were seen: different gull species, loons, pigeon guillemots, surf scoters, eagles, crows and even swallows. The fog hung heavily on the mountains, giving the place a surreal look, mysterious. By the end of the morning we had seen a humpback whale (albeit off in the distance), orcas and probably hundreds of Dall’s porpoises, who provided the counter effect of the orcas (so serious, so unaffected by our presence), by changing direction and heading towards our ship like torpedoes, so fast that they created roostertails as their dorsal fins hit the surface, and bow riding our ship for excellent photographs. Excessive speed, considered by many cetologists as the fastest marine mammals, graced these superlative beings!
We headed into the fog at moments, necessitating the use of the foghorn every so often, but eventually headed South for a while, and suddenly found ourselves at a lovely waterfall, Kasniku. Here we tarried for a while, for excellent photographic opportunities.
And onward we sailed ‘til we found ourselves at our afternoon destination: Kelp Bay. Here we anchored amid the many harbor seals that looked at us with curiosity, but always at a good distance. Hikes were organized, and walking among the meadow plants was soon in effect, everybody enjoying the numerous wildflowers: lupines, wild geraniums, buttercups, starflowers, violets, shooting stars and red paintbrush, among others.
Bears were to be seen, one of them at quite a short distance. It was not curious and proceeded to eat grass!
