Idaho Inlet, Inian Islands & Point Adolphus
We awoke this morning cruising through Idaho Inlet, looking for wildlife. The weather conditions were perfect; calm seas, light overcast, and no rain. It didn’t take long before we spotted sea otters, and lots of them! It was hard to tell how many were in the area, but a good guess would be around sixty to seventy. There were several larger groups that had fifteen or more in a tight gathering. We saw sleeping otters, grooming otters, and a few actively feeding. Soon we were called for breakfast and the National Geographic Sea Lion made its way a short distance to its anchorage for the start of our morning activities.
After breakfast the Zodiacs took us to two separate beaches, one on the Shaw Islands where we would kayak, and the other near Fox Creek on Chichagof Island, where we would leave on hikes through the rainforest and boggy area. The kayakers paddled around the Shaw Islands where they saw harbor seals and other wildlife along the way. However, the hikers were having a much different experience walking on brown bear trails through the temperate rainforest of Chichagof, viewing a variety of plant species and coming across bear signs such as scat, and a large “bear tree” where they claw and rub, leaving their scent as a marker for other bears in the area. Faster hikers were able to climb a short trail up a hillside to a bog for a slightly different perspective of the area. There were signs up there as well, but this time in the form of paw prints in the peat. Then it was back to the ship for lunch and over to our afternoon activity area.
The National Geographic Sea Lion dropped anchor in a cove on the north side of the Inian Islands and we prepared for our afternoon Zodiac cruises. These small islands sit at the west end of Icy Strait and are exposed to the open ocean through Cross Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. There can be some very strong currents that race around these little islands which bring with them a very rich supply of food for fish, birds and marine mammals that live in the area. Soon we started seeing a lot of varied wildlife, such as eagles, cormorants, puffins, sea otters, and the largest of all the sea lions, the Northern (Steller’s) sea lion. These large playful creatures have a “haul out” rock in the middle of two intersecting channels where the current usually runs very strong during the changing tides. This is not a rookery where females have pups, but a place where non breeding males of different ages rest between foraging trips. We were in luck, with the incoming tide the sea lions were busily feeding on the salmon that were making their way from the open ocean toward their spawning streams. Too big to be eaten whole, the animals throw their heads violently to the side and tear the salmon apart before they’re ingested. What a show!
After getting back onboard, we hauled anchor and started cruising toward Point Adolphus for our after dinner evening of whale watching. A humpback whale calf breached about 60 times in a row and many more adult whales surrounded us. The perfect finish to a perfect day!
We awoke this morning cruising through Idaho Inlet, looking for wildlife. The weather conditions were perfect; calm seas, light overcast, and no rain. It didn’t take long before we spotted sea otters, and lots of them! It was hard to tell how many were in the area, but a good guess would be around sixty to seventy. There were several larger groups that had fifteen or more in a tight gathering. We saw sleeping otters, grooming otters, and a few actively feeding. Soon we were called for breakfast and the National Geographic Sea Lion made its way a short distance to its anchorage for the start of our morning activities.
After breakfast the Zodiacs took us to two separate beaches, one on the Shaw Islands where we would kayak, and the other near Fox Creek on Chichagof Island, where we would leave on hikes through the rainforest and boggy area. The kayakers paddled around the Shaw Islands where they saw harbor seals and other wildlife along the way. However, the hikers were having a much different experience walking on brown bear trails through the temperate rainforest of Chichagof, viewing a variety of plant species and coming across bear signs such as scat, and a large “bear tree” where they claw and rub, leaving their scent as a marker for other bears in the area. Faster hikers were able to climb a short trail up a hillside to a bog for a slightly different perspective of the area. There were signs up there as well, but this time in the form of paw prints in the peat. Then it was back to the ship for lunch and over to our afternoon activity area.
The National Geographic Sea Lion dropped anchor in a cove on the north side of the Inian Islands and we prepared for our afternoon Zodiac cruises. These small islands sit at the west end of Icy Strait and are exposed to the open ocean through Cross Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. There can be some very strong currents that race around these little islands which bring with them a very rich supply of food for fish, birds and marine mammals that live in the area. Soon we started seeing a lot of varied wildlife, such as eagles, cormorants, puffins, sea otters, and the largest of all the sea lions, the Northern (Steller’s) sea lion. These large playful creatures have a “haul out” rock in the middle of two intersecting channels where the current usually runs very strong during the changing tides. This is not a rookery where females have pups, but a place where non breeding males of different ages rest between foraging trips. We were in luck, with the incoming tide the sea lions were busily feeding on the salmon that were making their way from the open ocean toward their spawning streams. Too big to be eaten whole, the animals throw their heads violently to the side and tear the salmon apart before they’re ingested. What a show!
After getting back onboard, we hauled anchor and started cruising toward Point Adolphus for our after dinner evening of whale watching. A humpback whale calf breached about 60 times in a row and many more adult whales surrounded us. The perfect finish to a perfect day!
