Monday Morning Traffic in Icy Strait
This morning we headed for Point Adolphus in Icy Strait. Our commute started with overcast skies and soon, a major congestion was seen ahead of us. As we counted we found at least twelve obstructions in the Strait. We could hear honking, tooting and the sound of air brakes, or were they multiple flat tires? Whenever we hear a new sound, one way we describe it is to compare it to something else we already know, and subsequently have already named. This traffic jam and cacophony had nothing to do with cars or trucks or even roads. Our encounter was with a foraging group of humpback whales. The sounds were very traffic like, or as others described, “like shoving heavy furniture across a bare floor.” The tight knit group surfaced repeatedly very near our ship and gave us wonderful views of flukes, blowholes, a smattering of pectoral fins, and from a couple of the more exuberant individuals, full body breaches. This was nearly a complete sensory experience as we listened above as well as below water (using our hydrophone) to a variety of communications: exhalations, trumpeting and the thunderclap slap of the breaches. For our visual feast the massive creatures coming excitingly close to our ship (see first photo) and not to be forgotten, the olfactory experience as the scent of whale breath wafted across our bow.
Our morning continued with exceptional sightings. Parasitic jaegers were seen harassing the black-legged kittiwakes, harassing the smaller birds for a regurgitated fish breakfast. Thank heavens our breakfast was a civilized buffet. We peeked into Idaho Inlet, scanning the waters for whiskered kelp. We were looking for sea otters, and we found them rolling, squirming, grooming and bashing their breakfast with rocks upon their own chests. These marine mammals had us oohing and ahhing in whispered voices, so as not to scare them away.
George Island was our destination for the afternoon, complete with dogs barking from the tops of the spruce trees. The barking is a familiar sound, but this was not from arboreal canines. Jet-black ravens sat in the treetops making a variety of barking, croaking and gurgling sounds.
With an opportunity for kayaking, we paddled upon the clear, quiet waters. The shoreline rocks were festooned with party favors of deep purple and gaudy-orange sea stars. Jellyfish silently pulsed through the water as we relaxed with this opportunity for solitude. (See second photo.)
Visiting the boardwalk community of Elfin Cove topped off our afternoon. Like our morning experience in Icy Strait, this little community had a fairly steady stream of traffic coming into it, and like our morning, this traffic had nothing to do with cars, trucks or roads. This traffic was fishing vessels coming home, into the protection of the cove.
We ended our day snuggled in the warmth and comfort of our own cabins aboard the Sea Bird, while someone else did the driving to our next day of activities and explorations.
