Idaho Inlet & Cross Sound
A typical, foggy, soggy, Southeast day greeted us in Idaho Inlet this morning as we rose to no sun for the first time all week. We have been extraordinarily blessed with sunny weather and little to no wind for the first four days of our trip. Some guests were even wondering if this is really a rainforest!!! But it is indeed and we started the day looking for rainforest bears, those big salmon-eating brown bears that are found in more abundance in northern Southeast Alaska than anywhere else on the planet.
Our first walk this morning kept the bear theme alive as we landed on a very low tide at Fox Creek for a short stroll to a set of tracks embedded in the forest floor by generations of bears walking in exactly the same spot. Why these bears choose to place their feet in the now inches-deep foot-shaped depressions is a mystery – but mystery is why we visit wild places. We don’t always understand what motivates our animal friends, but we sure do like to watch them. And when a mink emerged from the beach grass intent on checking under every piece of kelp exposed by the low tide, we all sat back and watched the show. The mink was not very concerned about our presence as it searched for something to eat…a small crab, a fish trapped by the outgoing tide…and it stayed around long enough for the long-hikers to return from their visit to the bog.
Without the rain, this magnificent rainforest wilderness would not be unique, so there was no complaining about the misty, cloudy weather when we loaded into the zodiacs after lunch for a smooth-as-silk ride to the Inian Islands and our first up-close and personal visit with the Steller sea lion.
Steller sea lion populations have decreased significantly over the past 30 years with the population in this part of Alaska listed as Threatened. The cause is from a variety of influences including changing climate and overharvesting of fish, such as Pollock, that are important to the sea lion diet. But there were plenty of sea lions where we were. Aged monster-sized sea lions holding court on the haul-out rocks constantly bellowed to each other, claiming they were the dominant king of the hill. And young sea lions gathered in the water like groups of curious teenagers at a video game trade show, only their curiosity was focused on us as they tracked our zodiacs as we cruised by the kelp forests where they seemed to be hunting for dinner.
These very same kelp forests were home to a couple of friendly sea otters that didn’t at all mind the whir of our cameras as we captured their images to share with friends back home.
Our evening cruise took us to Lemesurier Island in Cross Sound where we’ll rest our weary heads and dream of tomorrow’s adventures in Glacier Bay National Park.
