Sitkoh Bay, Chatham Strait & Pavlof Harbor
The first morning of our journey was a good example of how wild the temperate rain forests of Southeast Alaska are. National Geographic Sea Lion sailed into a place called Sitkoh Bay. Very light fog was still trapped amongst the majestic spruces and hemlocks, eagles and their nests were seen as we sailed past Chatham Cannery. An early announcement brought everyone out to the bow to see our first coastal brown bear. These bears are different from grizzlies by being generally darker and larger. A few minutes later, a sow with two cubs was seen along the shoreline as they fed on the sedges that grow just above the intertidal zone.
We left Sitkoh Bay behind and headed into Chatham Strait. A few humpback whales were seen in the distance, there were also fleeting sightings of Dall’s porpoises. For just a few moments, a group of Dall’s porpoises joined National Geographic Sea Lion to bow ride. Being the fastest of all cetaceans, these porpoises could very well leave us behind, but instead, they came to play right under or bow. Shortly after that, we stopped to watch a humpback whale that was placidly logging on the water’s surface. After a few minutes, it decided to dive. After some time of being underwater and out of sight, it suddenly decided to surface very close to the bow of our ship, giving everyone great photo opportunities and a good chance to listen to its cyclopean exhalation.
Freshwater bay was our next destination. Pavlof Harbor is an excellent place to deploy our kayaks and explore not only the shoreline, but also the mouth of a salmon stream that flows into the fjord. Several bear trails were followed by the hikers into the heart of the woods. These magnificent forests are the home of bears, whose essence is always in them, even if they are not physically present.
Both kayakers and hikers could see some of the first pink salmon that already started to congregate at the mouth of the stream, and that will shortly start making their way up to the fresh water environment to spawn. We learned that these salmon are the heart and soul of the temperate rain forests of Southeast Alaska, since they act as a natural conveyor belt of nutrients, which are transported from the ocean into every living creature on land.
