Chatham Strait & Pond Island
Wherever we go, no matter if we sail near the forested shorelines or if we hike through the old growth forests, we always have a bear in the back of our minds. Today, just before breakfast, the National Geographic Sea Lion sailed though Sitkoh Bay, where we had our first sightings of brown bears. First one, then two, then a sow with two cubs and the count increased until we finally counted ten bears in total. Brown bears are the “coastal version of the grizzlies of the interior”. When available, they feed on salmon, therefore they grow much bigger.
As we sailed away into the Chatham Strait, humpback whales were seen. Their misty blows rising into the air, with a spectacular background of mountains, forests, snow and fog could evoke a deep feeling of ancestral landscapes.
A few northern or Steller’s sea lions rested on a navigational aid, as several Dall’s porpoises approached from all directions. Amongst the fastest of cetaceans, these porpoises seldom show much of their bodies as they shear the water’s surface with impressive speed. We were lucky to have them join us for enough time to see their orca-like colors before they disappeared.
Pond Island is where we spent the afternoon. Kayaking on flat calm waters and hiking in the old growth forest were our activities. As the kayakers had close views of the harbor seals peeking out of their liquid world into ours, the hikers explored the beaver dams and delightfully inspected the marvels of the micro-world of lichens, mosses and banana slugs.
Wherever we go, no matter if we sail near the forested shorelines or if we hike through the old growth forests, we always have a bear in the back of our minds. Today, just before breakfast, the National Geographic Sea Lion sailed though Sitkoh Bay, where we had our first sightings of brown bears. First one, then two, then a sow with two cubs and the count increased until we finally counted ten bears in total. Brown bears are the “coastal version of the grizzlies of the interior”. When available, they feed on salmon, therefore they grow much bigger.
As we sailed away into the Chatham Strait, humpback whales were seen. Their misty blows rising into the air, with a spectacular background of mountains, forests, snow and fog could evoke a deep feeling of ancestral landscapes.
A few northern or Steller’s sea lions rested on a navigational aid, as several Dall’s porpoises approached from all directions. Amongst the fastest of cetaceans, these porpoises seldom show much of their bodies as they shear the water’s surface with impressive speed. We were lucky to have them join us for enough time to see their orca-like colors before they disappeared.
Pond Island is where we spent the afternoon. Kayaking on flat calm waters and hiking in the old growth forest were our activities. As the kayakers had close views of the harbor seals peeking out of their liquid world into ours, the hikers explored the beaver dams and delightfully inspected the marvels of the micro-world of lichens, mosses and banana slugs.
