Icy Strait
There are so many things to discover in the productive waters of Icy Strait – giant humpback whales to tiny copepods under the microscope, puffins to peregrines, sea otters and sea stars – an incredible diversity of life abounds. Icy Strait, the only outlet to the Pacific Ocean in northern Southeast Alaska, sees a dramatic flooding and ebbing of water each day. Currents and winds stir nutrient-rich waters under summer solar radiation to create a productive oceanic food web.
Steller sea lions grumbled on a rocky haulout in the smooth and swirling waters of the Inian Islands. We were all smiles watching a mother sea otter clutch her fluffy pup on her chest as she sculled in the currents. Great blue herons created poignant profiles in shallows where sea stars devoured clams in the retreating tide. Ashore along salmon-spawning Fox Creek, a kestrel demonstrated its falcon skills taking dragonflies and warblers in mid-flight. In the lush rainforest we pondered magical grizzly bear tracks where the bears walk in a series of stagger step depressions in the mossy floor.
Kayakers and Zodiac-ers circumnavigated the Shaw Islands discovering an intriguing collection of life -- harbor seals in kelp beds, an elusive minke whale, soaring bald eagles and a Sitka black-tailed deer swimming between islands. From our versatile kayaks we were able to peer into near shore waters to marvel at fluffy plumose anemones and an enormous red sunflower sea star with seventeen arms.
Down Idaho Inlet we drifted with rafts of floating sea otters, the smallest, furriest and undeniably cutest of the marine mammals. In more open waters amongst long views we enjoyed a wonderful array of bird life including members of the auk clan -- puffins, murres and murrelets. A pair of peregrine falcons attacked a flock of northern phalaropes and handsome aerobatic jaegers challenged gulls for their meals.
The climax of the play of life today in Icy Strait was undoubtedly a squadron of a dozen humpback whales we found off Point Adolphus. The long dark whales surfaced frequently in tight formation near our ship, taking long lingering breaths before fluking up. While the whales returned to presumed synchronized feeding rituals below, many harbor porpoises worked the productive waters nearby. From marine mammals to birds to intertidal invertebrates, it is truly inspiring that we could discover so many wonderful life-forms in one place on our planet today.
There are so many things to discover in the productive waters of Icy Strait – giant humpback whales to tiny copepods under the microscope, puffins to peregrines, sea otters and sea stars – an incredible diversity of life abounds. Icy Strait, the only outlet to the Pacific Ocean in northern Southeast Alaska, sees a dramatic flooding and ebbing of water each day. Currents and winds stir nutrient-rich waters under summer solar radiation to create a productive oceanic food web.
Steller sea lions grumbled on a rocky haulout in the smooth and swirling waters of the Inian Islands. We were all smiles watching a mother sea otter clutch her fluffy pup on her chest as she sculled in the currents. Great blue herons created poignant profiles in shallows where sea stars devoured clams in the retreating tide. Ashore along salmon-spawning Fox Creek, a kestrel demonstrated its falcon skills taking dragonflies and warblers in mid-flight. In the lush rainforest we pondered magical grizzly bear tracks where the bears walk in a series of stagger step depressions in the mossy floor.
Kayakers and Zodiac-ers circumnavigated the Shaw Islands discovering an intriguing collection of life -- harbor seals in kelp beds, an elusive minke whale, soaring bald eagles and a Sitka black-tailed deer swimming between islands. From our versatile kayaks we were able to peer into near shore waters to marvel at fluffy plumose anemones and an enormous red sunflower sea star with seventeen arms.
Down Idaho Inlet we drifted with rafts of floating sea otters, the smallest, furriest and undeniably cutest of the marine mammals. In more open waters amongst long views we enjoyed a wonderful array of bird life including members of the auk clan -- puffins, murres and murrelets. A pair of peregrine falcons attacked a flock of northern phalaropes and handsome aerobatic jaegers challenged gulls for their meals.
The climax of the play of life today in Icy Strait was undoubtedly a squadron of a dozen humpback whales we found off Point Adolphus. The long dark whales surfaced frequently in tight formation near our ship, taking long lingering breaths before fluking up. While the whales returned to presumed synchronized feeding rituals below, many harbor porpoises worked the productive waters nearby. From marine mammals to birds to intertidal invertebrates, it is truly inspiring that we could discover so many wonderful life-forms in one place on our planet today.
