George Island to Point Adolphus
Just another incredible day on the Sea Bird in S.E. Alaska! Let’s start with the absolute highlight of the day, which would be whales at Point Adolphus. Picture the ship in a thick fog and the naturalists on the bow puzzling over a repeating sound that seems like a foghorn—which shouldn’t be there. Out of curiosity we head towards the sound. Suddenly a black shape appears in the water immediately in front of the bow. A humpback whale—quickly joined by another and another, until there are more than a dozen surrounding the ship! Blowing and pec-slapping, diving and breaching in the mist, the whales present an almost surrealistic tableau of sight and sound. Needless to say, the recap is cancelled and our dinner is postponed as we watch in fascination one of the most remarkable spectacles mother nature has to offer!
We began the day with a landing at George Island. Here we had a choice of several activities. The short hikers only went about a quarter mile, but saw everything from the relicts of the WWII artillery base to the intriguing choreography of mating slugs. The long hikers took a mile-long traverse through the woods to gaze down to barrel of a six-inch gun that was set up on a cliff to repel any sea borne invasion. Because there was a very low tide, the kayakers got a close-up and personal look at the multitude of plants and animals that make up the intertidal zone. These included a rainbow spectrum of ochre and bat stars, crimson tunicate blobs, obscenely green anemones, and almost every kind of seaweed you could imagine. Those who took the Zodiac tour hit the marine mammal jackpot, with sea otters and sea lions cavorting around the boats as if the circus had come to town.
After lunch, Mary Jo Lord came on board to describe the unique life style of a tiny Alaskan fishing village called Elfin Cove. As the name implies, this place is truly picturesque, consisting of buildings connected with a boardwalk around a tidal inlet and cove. Lately it has been the best of times and the worst of times for Elfin Cove. The over wintering population has dropped to less than ten, but the influx of sports fishermen and tourists brings the summering inhabitants to 300 or more. During our brief visit we took the opportunity to acquire some one-of-a-kind items ranging from fish-bone earrings to beadwork custom designed for us by a couple of entrepreneurial teenagers.
The feature attraction at Idaho Inlet was a group of sea otters that ventured astonishing close to our ship. Possessing a top-of-the scale “cuteness factor,” they floated by munching on crustaceans, oblivious of our presence.
The last event of the day was picking up our on-board Glacier Bay ranger at Gustavus during dinner. This allows us to cross the boundary into the park at midnight and cruise all the way to Johns Hopkins inlet by the time we wake up tomorrow. It will be hard to top today, but we’ll give it our best shot.
Just another incredible day on the Sea Bird in S.E. Alaska! Let’s start with the absolute highlight of the day, which would be whales at Point Adolphus. Picture the ship in a thick fog and the naturalists on the bow puzzling over a repeating sound that seems like a foghorn—which shouldn’t be there. Out of curiosity we head towards the sound. Suddenly a black shape appears in the water immediately in front of the bow. A humpback whale—quickly joined by another and another, until there are more than a dozen surrounding the ship! Blowing and pec-slapping, diving and breaching in the mist, the whales present an almost surrealistic tableau of sight and sound. Needless to say, the recap is cancelled and our dinner is postponed as we watch in fascination one of the most remarkable spectacles mother nature has to offer!
We began the day with a landing at George Island. Here we had a choice of several activities. The short hikers only went about a quarter mile, but saw everything from the relicts of the WWII artillery base to the intriguing choreography of mating slugs. The long hikers took a mile-long traverse through the woods to gaze down to barrel of a six-inch gun that was set up on a cliff to repel any sea borne invasion. Because there was a very low tide, the kayakers got a close-up and personal look at the multitude of plants and animals that make up the intertidal zone. These included a rainbow spectrum of ochre and bat stars, crimson tunicate blobs, obscenely green anemones, and almost every kind of seaweed you could imagine. Those who took the Zodiac tour hit the marine mammal jackpot, with sea otters and sea lions cavorting around the boats as if the circus had come to town.
After lunch, Mary Jo Lord came on board to describe the unique life style of a tiny Alaskan fishing village called Elfin Cove. As the name implies, this place is truly picturesque, consisting of buildings connected with a boardwalk around a tidal inlet and cove. Lately it has been the best of times and the worst of times for Elfin Cove. The over wintering population has dropped to less than ten, but the influx of sports fishermen and tourists brings the summering inhabitants to 300 or more. During our brief visit we took the opportunity to acquire some one-of-a-kind items ranging from fish-bone earrings to beadwork custom designed for us by a couple of entrepreneurial teenagers.
The feature attraction at Idaho Inlet was a group of sea otters that ventured astonishing close to our ship. Possessing a top-of-the scale “cuteness factor,” they floated by munching on crustaceans, oblivious of our presence.
The last event of the day was picking up our on-board Glacier Bay ranger at Gustavus during dinner. This allows us to cross the boundary into the park at midnight and cruise all the way to Johns Hopkins inlet by the time we wake up tomorrow. It will be hard to top today, but we’ll give it our best shot.
