Inian Islands & Chichagof Island
The second day of our expedition was simply amazing. The National Geographic Sea Lion dropped anchor near the Inian Islands to explore the area by Zodiac. One of the reasons we love the area is the great amount of wildlife that congregates to feed on the currents produced by the changing tides. Steller sea lions, black-legged kittiwakes, pigeon guillemots, sea otters, and many other species of marine creatures were seen this morning. One of the highlights was the fishing sea lions that occasionally would surface with large fish in their mouths. Some of the fish were so big, that the sea lions had to shake them to tear them into smaller pieces to be able to eat them. In an instant, glaucous-winged gulls would start hovering above the action to pick up the scraps from the water’s surface.
Fox Creek was our afternoon destination. This trail is located on Chichagof Island, which is one of the “ABC” islands, which are well known for their healthy coastal brown bear populations. Bear trails lead us into the forest, where we learned more about forest ecology and we saw a lot of bear evidence everywhere we went. A massive tree has been heavily scratched by bears for many years, and today we found new scratches on several other trees. One of our groups even encountered a sow with a two year old cub, that shortly after emitting a couple sounds, ran away back into the heart of the forest.
There are very few places in our planet that are still truly wild, places that wake ancestral feelings in us and remind us that this really is the way things are supposed to be. A simple walk through the forests of Southeast Alaska had become a journey through time that transported us away from our modern lives into an ideal world where man and nature can peacefully live as one.
