Halleck Harbor in Saginaw Bay, Frederick Sound
Under gray overcast skies and a falling mist that was not quite rain, we felt this morning that we were indeed “coming into the country.” After three days of glorious sun, today we prepared to hike and kayak in weather that seemed more typical of Southeast Alaska.
Morning hikers set out to explore the beautiful limestone cliffs that shoulder close to the back side of the narrow beach in Halleck Harbor on Kuiu Island. Against the pale stone walls, wildflowers rooted in cracks and grabbed ledges, forming exquisite hanging gardens above our heads. Amid the talus, red paintbrush and columbine gave a charge of color, while blue harebells beaded with mist nodded in the soft breeze.
As our eyes grew trained, we found rich evidence of former life in these cliffs. Thousands of fossilized shells were embedded in the walls of the cliff. These brachiopods are mollusk-like creatures, laid in the fossil record some 120 million years ago. Each shell was contoured in two rounded and grooved bumps, like two thumb prints.
On the beach, the low tide exposed plenty of thick ooze, through which we clomped on our way to barnacle-covered rocks. Chitons and limpets stuck to the rocks like glue, and their shell shapes suggested that they were distant relatives of the fossils in the cliffs. Sea stars squeezed in contorted shapes into the spaces between the rocks, and we marveled at their ability to regenerate lost arms. Some of us even caught a quick glimpse of a small orange octopus as it slithered fast for cover under a rock.
Out on the water, kayakers explored the headland of the bay, where they discovered a rare image painted on the rocks. The sun with rays and the face of a man is thought by some to represent a welcome back to the “Salmon People.” Below the pictograph were two frolicking and frisky river otters, delighting everyone lucky enough to see these wonderful creatures on the beach.
Our destination for the afternoon was to be “The Brothers,” two islands in the waters where Stephens Passage meets Frederick Sound. But as we were eating lunch, the ship made an unscheduled turnabout into high adventure. We received word that the vessel of the Alaska Whale Foundation, Evolution, was in distress. Its motor had quit and it was in danger of being pushed by waves and strong winds onto the rocky shore on the southwestern tip of Admiralty Island.
Once on the scene, Captain Delisle dispatched three Zodiacs with crew to aid the vessel in distress. Working together, the whale researchers and the Sea Lion crew towed the wave-tossed Evolution with Zodiacs into the refuge of Murder Cove. As we waited for word on the fate of the Evolution, the waters around the Sea Lion came alive with the blows and plunging flukes of feeding humpback whales. Some began breaching, over and over again, rising fully from the water and crashing in huge splashes. The Zodiacs soon returned with the happy news that all was under control on the Evolution. The Sea Lion then turned her stern to the seas and ran with the late afternoon swells, heading toward our next adventure.
