Baranof Island, Alaska
A low moody mist shrouded Baranof Island of the dawn of our first morning in Southeastern Alaska. Shifting clouds parted to reveal numerous waterfalls cascading off the glacier carved summits creating silver-white ribbons through dark green spruce and hemlock forests clinging to the cliffs. Despite an intermittent drizzle we set our to explore the roughed coastline in a multicolored flotilla of kayaks.
Numerous bald eagles swooped low over schools of herring. King salmon leaped clear of the water producing explosive splashes on their way to nearby spawning streams. Occasional Stellar sea lions, sea otters, and harbor seals rose curiously to watch us pass. In the clear waters of Kelp Bay it was easy to spy several types of jellyfish drifting beneath our kayaks. We also got to examine close at hand a platter-sized pycnopodid sun star-- a multi-armed limber predatory sea star.
After kayaking we entered the adjacent rainforest to explore isolated meadows and muskeg bogs which revealed several heathers, chocolate lilies, and rare insectivorous sundews. A short afternoon cruise down Chatham Straight brought us to the hidden inlet of Red Bluff Bay which boasted even more spectacular, if unnamed waterfalls. Departing the Bay we chanced upon a trio of humpback whales echelon feeding very close to the steep cliffs of the shoreline. They circled and cruised close to the cliffs while we watch just yards off our bow. The twilight stillness was pierced repeatedly by their trumpeting exhalations or "blows" which have a strange and mysterious horn-like timbre on these summer feeding grounds. These blows are felt internally as much as they are heard -- just one of the many resonating wonders of Alaska.
A low moody mist shrouded Baranof Island of the dawn of our first morning in Southeastern Alaska. Shifting clouds parted to reveal numerous waterfalls cascading off the glacier carved summits creating silver-white ribbons through dark green spruce and hemlock forests clinging to the cliffs. Despite an intermittent drizzle we set our to explore the roughed coastline in a multicolored flotilla of kayaks.
Numerous bald eagles swooped low over schools of herring. King salmon leaped clear of the water producing explosive splashes on their way to nearby spawning streams. Occasional Stellar sea lions, sea otters, and harbor seals rose curiously to watch us pass. In the clear waters of Kelp Bay it was easy to spy several types of jellyfish drifting beneath our kayaks. We also got to examine close at hand a platter-sized pycnopodid sun star-- a multi-armed limber predatory sea star.
After kayaking we entered the adjacent rainforest to explore isolated meadows and muskeg bogs which revealed several heathers, chocolate lilies, and rare insectivorous sundews. A short afternoon cruise down Chatham Straight brought us to the hidden inlet of Red Bluff Bay which boasted even more spectacular, if unnamed waterfalls. Departing the Bay we chanced upon a trio of humpback whales echelon feeding very close to the steep cliffs of the shoreline. They circled and cruised close to the cliffs while we watch just yards off our bow. The twilight stillness was pierced repeatedly by their trumpeting exhalations or "blows" which have a strange and mysterious horn-like timbre on these summer feeding grounds. These blows are felt internally as much as they are heard -- just one of the many resonating wonders of Alaska.
