George Island & the Inians
With almost zero visibility, as a dense fog had settled in the whole area, we entered the group of islands known as The Inians. Among them was George Island, where we did a series of hikes and kayaked immediately after our breakfast.
The hikes followed a series of old bear trails converted to US soldier trails during WWII, as the Army took over the island and installed on it an old 6’ cannon, to protect Cross Sound from any possible Japanese invasion. It was not used in war, but the rusted remains of the presence of the Army are still to be seen. Mud was the word for these hikes. Other more leisurely hikes were made also.
After lunch, we had repositioned to the proximity of a large Steller sea lion rookery, where we did a series of Zodiac tours to enjoy these incredibly playful animals. They cavorted all around the Zodiacs, always looking at us with their big eyes. It seemed marvelous, as these animals may weigh up to 2000 lbs! We all had ample opportunity of photographing every one of them.
During the day we also saw a series of humpback whales breaching and fishing very near the ship. A young individual was the principal actor! And during the afternoon, in the vicinity of the rookery of Steller sea lions, we saw sea otters, a good number of different seabirds, as well as humpback whales again, even in groups of up to 6 individuals.
Fantastic!
