Inian Islands and George Island
The quiet anchorage of the Hobbit Hole amongst the Inian Islands was our morning’s destination, and we dropped anchor there just before breakfast. Our intention was to Zodiac cruise around the islands in search of wildlife – and wildlife we certainly found! Near the ship sea otters floated on their backs in beds of kelp, their small beady eyes watching us from a safe distance, never allowing us to approach them too closely, but still letting us see their furry charming faces. Hundreds of pelagic cormorants rested on low rocky outcroppings and several species of gulls dotted the green water with their clean white shapes. Some enchanting tufted puffins charmed us by giving us a few glimpses as they bobbed on the waves near lovely black pigeon guillemots.
Further down the rocky shores the ocean swell and currents increased and as water rushed from the open Pacific Ocean into the channels of the Inside Passage the waves crested and churned into white-caps. This stirring and mixing attracted hundreds of Steller sea lions into the water in search of food. We enjoyed a fantastic and marvelous spectacle of sea lions cavorting and frolicking in the sea, leaping and diving and coming to the surface to snort loudly often mere feet away from our Zodiacs. These massive animals can reach an enormous size – males getting up to nearly 2,000 pounds in weight. During the breeding season they fight for territories on sites used traditionally by females to give birth to their pups. Not all males are big enough and strong enough to win the fights and maintain a territory; therefore not all males get to breed. The sea lions we observed today were the non-breeding individuals, relaxing on the rocky shore away from the breeding grounds. Although they may not have been large enough to win fights, some individuals we observed were certainly pretty huge, and their teeth impressively sharp. It was mesmerizing watching them move effortlessly through the strong currents and waves, while we pushed through the chop relying on the power of our outboard engines.
During lunch we repositioned a short distance over to George Island and had the opportunity to kayak along the shore as well as walk through the woods either to look at the forest and shore life, or over to a six inch gun at the end of the hill, which had been placed there during World War II. This tiny remote island, with its strategic location and open access to the Pacific, nevertheless seemed an odd place to run into a huge gun mounted on the side of the hill. This area provided beautiful views of the Fairweather Range to the north, Mt Fairweather with its approximate 15,000ft elevation in clear view and Brady Glacier down below us in the distance.
Whale sightings interrupted our evening recap and we watched in appreciation as several humpback whales surfaced near the ship and fluked – raising their massive tails into the air before diving right outside windows of the lounge. After dinner the show continued.
