Red Bluff Bay and Chatham Strait, Southeast Alaska.
The sight of Red Bluff Bay on Baranof Island early in the first morning of our expedition brought most everybody out on deck. These reddish solid rock hills are almost completely devoid of trees due to the big amounts of chromium in the rocks; iron oxide gives them a reddish color. We slowly sailed into this lovely cove and enjoyed the forest and sheer cliff walls covered in greenery, as well as a good number of waterfalls, small and large. A great surprise awaited us when we saw a very reddish black bear on the beach feeding, as most bears do at this time of the year in the northern part of the west coast of United States and Canada from beach rye, a very common and rich grass. One of the waterfalls attracted our attention because of the enormous volume of snowmelt water roaring down the steep wall. While we approached it closely, we had the opportunity of seeing a very rare bird, an American dipper, flying in the vicinity and, with a worm in its beak, head up the waterfall and behind a rock where it probably had a nest. Bald eagles, flying and in a nest, common mergansers, mew and glaucous gulls, the rufous hummingbird, harlequin ducks, and crows and ravens were also seen.
We slowly left this enchanted bay and headed back up into Chatham Strait to look for the larger marine mammals. Here we promptly sighted two adult humpback whales, which delighted us with different antics. These large cetaceans, with a weight of up to 40 tons and up to 45 feet in length are one of the most acrobatic whales in the world's oceans, jumping and breaching quite commonly. We watched them for two hours, eventually leaving them to their own business. On northward we sailed, reaching Kelp Bay, also on Baranof Island. Here, after lunch, we landed on Pond Island, where we enjoyed hiking and kayaking. The hikes were into the wilds of this small island, where we visited bogs or muskegs, with their attendant plants, most of the family of the heath, among them blue- and cranberries, Labrador tea, bog laurel and skunk cabbage. In the water we saw yellow pond lilies. A larger pond was also seen, where a dam made by beavers held the dark-colored water rich in tannic acid, at a level almost two yards higher than the stream below it! Enormous fresh brown (grizzly) bear tracks were encountered on the paths and Sitka black-tailed deer (mule deer) remains were seen.
Meanwhile, some of the kayakers enjoying the solitude and beauty of the coast around the smaller islands near Pond Island, had the incredible opportunity of seeing three humpback whales frolic at less than 100 yards distance. Their behavior included breaching, or jumping high in the air, landing on their sides or back with a tremendous splash!
Eventually we all were taken back to our ship, where shortly thereafter we convened in the lounge, and enjoyed a West Coast wine and delicacies-tasting spree, had the day's recapitulation by the naturalists and went into dinner, where the principal actor was fresh King salmon.
The sight of Red Bluff Bay on Baranof Island early in the first morning of our expedition brought most everybody out on deck. These reddish solid rock hills are almost completely devoid of trees due to the big amounts of chromium in the rocks; iron oxide gives them a reddish color. We slowly sailed into this lovely cove and enjoyed the forest and sheer cliff walls covered in greenery, as well as a good number of waterfalls, small and large. A great surprise awaited us when we saw a very reddish black bear on the beach feeding, as most bears do at this time of the year in the northern part of the west coast of United States and Canada from beach rye, a very common and rich grass. One of the waterfalls attracted our attention because of the enormous volume of snowmelt water roaring down the steep wall. While we approached it closely, we had the opportunity of seeing a very rare bird, an American dipper, flying in the vicinity and, with a worm in its beak, head up the waterfall and behind a rock where it probably had a nest. Bald eagles, flying and in a nest, common mergansers, mew and glaucous gulls, the rufous hummingbird, harlequin ducks, and crows and ravens were also seen.
We slowly left this enchanted bay and headed back up into Chatham Strait to look for the larger marine mammals. Here we promptly sighted two adult humpback whales, which delighted us with different antics. These large cetaceans, with a weight of up to 40 tons and up to 45 feet in length are one of the most acrobatic whales in the world's oceans, jumping and breaching quite commonly. We watched them for two hours, eventually leaving them to their own business. On northward we sailed, reaching Kelp Bay, also on Baranof Island. Here, after lunch, we landed on Pond Island, where we enjoyed hiking and kayaking. The hikes were into the wilds of this small island, where we visited bogs or muskegs, with their attendant plants, most of the family of the heath, among them blue- and cranberries, Labrador tea, bog laurel and skunk cabbage. In the water we saw yellow pond lilies. A larger pond was also seen, where a dam made by beavers held the dark-colored water rich in tannic acid, at a level almost two yards higher than the stream below it! Enormous fresh brown (grizzly) bear tracks were encountered on the paths and Sitka black-tailed deer (mule deer) remains were seen.
Meanwhile, some of the kayakers enjoying the solitude and beauty of the coast around the smaller islands near Pond Island, had the incredible opportunity of seeing three humpback whales frolic at less than 100 yards distance. Their behavior included breaching, or jumping high in the air, landing on their sides or back with a tremendous splash!
Eventually we all were taken back to our ship, where shortly thereafter we convened in the lounge, and enjoyed a West Coast wine and delicacies-tasting spree, had the day's recapitulation by the naturalists and went into dinner, where the principal actor was fresh King salmon.
