Icy Strait and Idaho Bay
When the 'early birds' arrived on deck this morning, the Sea Lion was sailing through a water fantasyland. Fogbanks hung low over the mirror-smooth water, or swirled in front of the nearby hills, slowly lifting, like ghosts rising out of the underworld, up into the sky. The sun broke through all this ephemeral beauty, creating enchanting light effects all around the ship. One by one the guests arrived on deck to embrace the beguiling world of Dundas Bay. The world was waking up, and so were we.
The birders were excited about sighting a pair of ancient murrelets, a small flock of red-breasted mergansers and a red-throated loon, as well as a lot of the more common species. All morning we enjoyed the calm waters and shorelines of the South Inian Pass and Icy Strait. As the Sea Lion navigated through the narrow channel between the Inian Islands, the incoming tide created swirls, and masses of upwelling water. This seemed to have confused the fish, for a number of them were feeding very successfully, taking advantage of the turbulence. We saw a few proud sea lions surface with large fish in their maws, then playfully roll around, and shake their heads to tear the fish, before swallowing their prize. Nearby, in a kelp bed, was an aggregation of sea otters, including a few females with young. These animals are truly adorable to look at, but I suspect that at close quarters they might be both smelly and snarly. On the open waters of Icy Strait, we either just relaxed and absorbed the overwhelming grandeur of our surroundings, or keenly watched for, and anticipated every bird sighting, a porpoise, a bunch of otters, a distant bear on shore, or a group of humpback whales. Approaching Point Adolphus, we watched a loose aggregation of humpbacks feeding intently on what probably was a high density of herring. We came quite close to several 'balls' of this small fish, so tightly packed near the surface, that the water seemed to be boiling, and the fish were dancing at, and above the surface.
This afternoon we made the most of Idaho Inlet. The weather was near perfect, and animal life teemed all around. This is bear country, and when one goes hiking and kayaking in bear country, one expects to see bears (preferably from afar), as well as signs of literally walking in the bears' footsteps. One group of kayakers was dropped off four and a half miles from the anchorage, and enjoyed a fantastic paddle up the inlet, while everyone else went hiking in a large meadow and floodplain forest complex. Not only did we find a large brown bear in the very meadow we had chosen for our hike, but also, once we were on the trail, it was hard to avoid the signs of the very recent presence of bears. The knowledge that a number of brown bears are very close to where one is hiking, and being repeatedly reminded of this by tracks, scat, grazing and other signs, makes a hike a real wilderness experience. Different groups focused on different aspects of the inlet's natural history. One group came upon an adorable red squirrel, which stole their hearts. Another group had a feast day in the meadow, which was aglow with shooting stars and Alaskan paintbrush. A third group, which included some of the younger members of the expedition, studied animal tracks and vole tunnels in the pasture, and ended up on the beach, finding large polychaete worms, and eating bittercress to ward off scurvy.
Later in the afternoon, the Sea Lion, back on Icy Strait, was visited by a pod of killer whales, which provided us with a wonderful farewell to a fantastic day.
When the 'early birds' arrived on deck this morning, the Sea Lion was sailing through a water fantasyland. Fogbanks hung low over the mirror-smooth water, or swirled in front of the nearby hills, slowly lifting, like ghosts rising out of the underworld, up into the sky. The sun broke through all this ephemeral beauty, creating enchanting light effects all around the ship. One by one the guests arrived on deck to embrace the beguiling world of Dundas Bay. The world was waking up, and so were we.
The birders were excited about sighting a pair of ancient murrelets, a small flock of red-breasted mergansers and a red-throated loon, as well as a lot of the more common species. All morning we enjoyed the calm waters and shorelines of the South Inian Pass and Icy Strait. As the Sea Lion navigated through the narrow channel between the Inian Islands, the incoming tide created swirls, and masses of upwelling water. This seemed to have confused the fish, for a number of them were feeding very successfully, taking advantage of the turbulence. We saw a few proud sea lions surface with large fish in their maws, then playfully roll around, and shake their heads to tear the fish, before swallowing their prize. Nearby, in a kelp bed, was an aggregation of sea otters, including a few females with young. These animals are truly adorable to look at, but I suspect that at close quarters they might be both smelly and snarly. On the open waters of Icy Strait, we either just relaxed and absorbed the overwhelming grandeur of our surroundings, or keenly watched for, and anticipated every bird sighting, a porpoise, a bunch of otters, a distant bear on shore, or a group of humpback whales. Approaching Point Adolphus, we watched a loose aggregation of humpbacks feeding intently on what probably was a high density of herring. We came quite close to several 'balls' of this small fish, so tightly packed near the surface, that the water seemed to be boiling, and the fish were dancing at, and above the surface.
This afternoon we made the most of Idaho Inlet. The weather was near perfect, and animal life teemed all around. This is bear country, and when one goes hiking and kayaking in bear country, one expects to see bears (preferably from afar), as well as signs of literally walking in the bears' footsteps. One group of kayakers was dropped off four and a half miles from the anchorage, and enjoyed a fantastic paddle up the inlet, while everyone else went hiking in a large meadow and floodplain forest complex. Not only did we find a large brown bear in the very meadow we had chosen for our hike, but also, once we were on the trail, it was hard to avoid the signs of the very recent presence of bears. The knowledge that a number of brown bears are very close to where one is hiking, and being repeatedly reminded of this by tracks, scat, grazing and other signs, makes a hike a real wilderness experience. Different groups focused on different aspects of the inlet's natural history. One group came upon an adorable red squirrel, which stole their hearts. Another group had a feast day in the meadow, which was aglow with shooting stars and Alaskan paintbrush. A third group, which included some of the younger members of the expedition, studied animal tracks and vole tunnels in the pasture, and ended up on the beach, finding large polychaete worms, and eating bittercress to ward off scurvy.
Later in the afternoon, the Sea Lion, back on Icy Strait, was visited by a pod of killer whales, which provided us with a wonderful farewell to a fantastic day.
