Cross Sound, George Island & the Inians
Another perfectly beautiful day in Alaska! We entered Cross Sound early in the morning and were soon anchored off tiny George Island, where we disembarked after breakfast at Granite Cove. Here we separated into different groups – kayakers, long hikers and leisurely hikers. The long hikers had the opportunity to visit an old WWI cannon, recommissioned for WWII duty and still situated high up in the rough hills of this strategic island. The other group of hikers stayed at lower elevations and enjoyed tide-pooling with Alberto, who showed us a series of anemones, sculpins and other fascinating creatures from the ocean shoreline. Via different paths to the original beach, we returned, and soon were back on board the National Geographic Sea Bird.
After lunch we had repositioned to the Inian Islands, where we boarded Zodiacs and were soon enjoying the lovable antics of hundreds of northern (Steller’s) sea lions, many of them following close alongside our slowly moving Zodiacs. A young humpback whale was also seen in the same area, probably feeding on krill or small schooling fish.
Some of the sea lions were successful in catching salmon, as thousands of each of the five species of Pacific salmon are now beginning to migrate back to their stream of birth. Spawning will begin soon. The successful sea lions must shake and tear any large fish into smaller pieces in order to swallow their catch. A number of gulls immediately attend as the “fish dissection” process begins, hoping to snatch up tidbits of the broken salmonid. Gull species, pigeon guillemots, and long-necked pelagic cormorants crossed the sky in every direction.
The tidal waters around these near-ocean islands were turbulent. The Inian Islands are a funnel to a great current of ocean water entering or exiting Alaska’s Inside Passage at each tide.
