Fox Creek hike and kayak….cruising for whales!
Early morning found the Sea Lion heading into Idaho Inlet at approximately 6:30AM searching for sea otters. Under slightly gray skies the Sea Lion slowed her engines for a leisurely cruise deep into Idaho Inlet for closer observations of several small rafts of sea otters. We remained quiet on the bow, watching, as the Sea Lion moved in and out and around several otters.
Once breakfast was called, the ship repositioned to the outside of Idaho Inlet and anchored just off Chicagof Island. Our morning would include kayaking around a section of Chicagof Island, and interpretative walks on shore and just inside the forest along Fox Creek. Walkers were brought ashore by Zodiac first and separated into two groups, heading over a hummock of beach rye grass, down and over a sandy wet area that marked the entrance into the forest. A large blow-down had occurred in 1996 leaving many Sitka Spruce trees toppled over into the forest and opening up an area close to the beach for resettling of Sitka alder and other sun loving plants. Our walks would be on a well-established bear trail. As we passed out of the open beach area and into the forest, we were serenaded by spruce grouse and winter wrens. Entering the forest, a very unusual visual treat greeted us! There in a very straight line the “bear trail” was marked by the actual footprints of brown bears. Approximately twenty inches apart, we could walk in the footsteps that the local bears of the area had used for many years. Brown bears are creatures of habit and the moss and small plants were depressed into the ground about four inches – heading straight for a large patch of skunk cabbage, a delicacy for brown bears. We continued our walk through this second growth forest exploring the new growth of late spring. Occasionally we found ourselves finding closer views, on our knees to get even closer looks at the tiny violets both yellow and purple, wild strawberries, and the first shooting stars of the season! Continuing deeper into the forest along the customary bear trails, our walk reached its turnaround point in front of a bear scratching tree! Even the tallest in our group could not reach the top most area of the scratching tree where brown bears will stand and scratch, turning around and rubbing all those itchy places a very large brown bear cannot reach, despite their large paws and claws.
Arriving back on the beach we boarded Zodiacs bound for the Sea Lion. Anticipation was running high as our afternoon would be spent searching the rich waters of Southeast Alaska in search of marine mammals!
The sun was working hard, peeking out from the light cloud cover decorating the surrounding mountains in dappled sunlight. Just as the Sea Lion was about to head northwest towards Pt. Adolphus a very unusual sighting was made from the bridge. In the distance Captain Martin saw a group of dorsal fins rise out of the water – killer whales were on the move, and as Captain Martin scanned the waters, he saw several groups of animals all moving in the opposite direction from us. For the next hour and a half we remained in Cross Sound and followed the path of this large group of killer whales. The Natural History staff was on the bow, thrilled with this unusual sighting and began a commentary about this Southeast Alaskan killer population. There are several hundred animals in total and today we were in the presence of somewhere between 25 and 30 animals. There were at least five large males, their dorsal fin rising out of the water at six feet in height. There were also many females and two tiny brand new killer whales! These babies remained very close to their mothers sometimes rolling on the backs of their mothers. The Killer whale is an extremely thigmotactic marine mammal, and the young are in constant contact with their mothers. The pods are matrilineal groups consisting of two to four generations of two to nine related individuals, with all members contributing to calf rearing.
We watched several groups continued their fission-fusion behavior patterns, coming apart and then back together in a larger group, moving in and around the waters of Cross Sound. The bridge officers kept pace at a respectful distance, with the killer whales’ movements, giving us view after view of these magnificent whales. They came to the surface, taking a large breath, diving and returning to the surface, showing us their gorgeous markings of black, white and a shimmering saddle of gray just behind the dorsal fin. As the wind picked up, and evening and dinner approached, the Sea Lion would return to her course, taking us away from this spectacular sighting of killer whales. We were not the first people to respond to killer whales; they evoke strong emotional responses because they are large, intimidating and playful, sometimes all in one swift movement. The indigenous peoples of Alaska and the Northwest Coast also hold these marine mammals in high regard and consider them travelers and guardians of the seas. The killer whale is believed to be closely related to the human, thus allowing transformation from man to killer whale. Many Native legends tell of a long history of the relationship between man and killer whale.
Early morning found the Sea Lion heading into Idaho Inlet at approximately 6:30AM searching for sea otters. Under slightly gray skies the Sea Lion slowed her engines for a leisurely cruise deep into Idaho Inlet for closer observations of several small rafts of sea otters. We remained quiet on the bow, watching, as the Sea Lion moved in and out and around several otters.
Once breakfast was called, the ship repositioned to the outside of Idaho Inlet and anchored just off Chicagof Island. Our morning would include kayaking around a section of Chicagof Island, and interpretative walks on shore and just inside the forest along Fox Creek. Walkers were brought ashore by Zodiac first and separated into two groups, heading over a hummock of beach rye grass, down and over a sandy wet area that marked the entrance into the forest. A large blow-down had occurred in 1996 leaving many Sitka Spruce trees toppled over into the forest and opening up an area close to the beach for resettling of Sitka alder and other sun loving plants. Our walks would be on a well-established bear trail. As we passed out of the open beach area and into the forest, we were serenaded by spruce grouse and winter wrens. Entering the forest, a very unusual visual treat greeted us! There in a very straight line the “bear trail” was marked by the actual footprints of brown bears. Approximately twenty inches apart, we could walk in the footsteps that the local bears of the area had used for many years. Brown bears are creatures of habit and the moss and small plants were depressed into the ground about four inches – heading straight for a large patch of skunk cabbage, a delicacy for brown bears. We continued our walk through this second growth forest exploring the new growth of late spring. Occasionally we found ourselves finding closer views, on our knees to get even closer looks at the tiny violets both yellow and purple, wild strawberries, and the first shooting stars of the season! Continuing deeper into the forest along the customary bear trails, our walk reached its turnaround point in front of a bear scratching tree! Even the tallest in our group could not reach the top most area of the scratching tree where brown bears will stand and scratch, turning around and rubbing all those itchy places a very large brown bear cannot reach, despite their large paws and claws.
Arriving back on the beach we boarded Zodiacs bound for the Sea Lion. Anticipation was running high as our afternoon would be spent searching the rich waters of Southeast Alaska in search of marine mammals!
The sun was working hard, peeking out from the light cloud cover decorating the surrounding mountains in dappled sunlight. Just as the Sea Lion was about to head northwest towards Pt. Adolphus a very unusual sighting was made from the bridge. In the distance Captain Martin saw a group of dorsal fins rise out of the water – killer whales were on the move, and as Captain Martin scanned the waters, he saw several groups of animals all moving in the opposite direction from us. For the next hour and a half we remained in Cross Sound and followed the path of this large group of killer whales. The Natural History staff was on the bow, thrilled with this unusual sighting and began a commentary about this Southeast Alaskan killer population. There are several hundred animals in total and today we were in the presence of somewhere between 25 and 30 animals. There were at least five large males, their dorsal fin rising out of the water at six feet in height. There were also many females and two tiny brand new killer whales! These babies remained very close to their mothers sometimes rolling on the backs of their mothers. The Killer whale is an extremely thigmotactic marine mammal, and the young are in constant contact with their mothers. The pods are matrilineal groups consisting of two to four generations of two to nine related individuals, with all members contributing to calf rearing.
We watched several groups continued their fission-fusion behavior patterns, coming apart and then back together in a larger group, moving in and around the waters of Cross Sound. The bridge officers kept pace at a respectful distance, with the killer whales’ movements, giving us view after view of these magnificent whales. They came to the surface, taking a large breath, diving and returning to the surface, showing us their gorgeous markings of black, white and a shimmering saddle of gray just behind the dorsal fin. As the wind picked up, and evening and dinner approached, the Sea Lion would return to her course, taking us away from this spectacular sighting of killer whales. We were not the first people to respond to killer whales; they evoke strong emotional responses because they are large, intimidating and playful, sometimes all in one swift movement. The indigenous peoples of Alaska and the Northwest Coast also hold these marine mammals in high regard and consider them travelers and guardians of the seas. The killer whale is believed to be closely related to the human, thus allowing transformation from man to killer whale. Many Native legends tell of a long history of the relationship between man and killer whale.
