Icy Strait and Idaho Inlet
The appearance of several humpback whales at Pt. Adolphus brought us out on deck early this morning. Glassy calm seas in shades of pewter and grey reflected the light pillars of these great whales’ breath, and a few harbor porpoise and Steller sea lions popped up through the reflections. Bald eagles swooped from their perches atop tall Sitka spruce to scoop talons-full of small silvery herring, while thrush called from the forest.
This rich spot, a location where nutrient-rich waters are brought to the surface, attracts life of all sorts and sizes, from phytoplankton to fish, from birds to whales. Along the shore of Lemesurier Island, a group of four large humpbacks surfaced and dove together, no doubt herding krill or small fish into their capacious mouths. It turned out to be a day of mammals. Once we turned in to Idaho Inlet, we were able to linger with a raft of sea otters, watching as they rolled, preening their thick fur. Ashore at Fox Creek, we dug through bear scat clotted with the hair of a Sitka black-tailed deer. However, it was the new blooms on the meadow flowers that really took the show in the afternoon. A few chocolate lilies had opened, marsh violets, baneberry, shooting stars and more speckled the meadows.
Kayakers floated over the thick kelp ringing the Shaw Islands, an ear tuned to the distant but powerful breaths of humpback whales out in Icy Strait and the nearby melodic trill of a male winter wren. More sea otters and a few harbor seals turned the tables and investigated us as we tried to observe them. Colorful, slow-moving sea stars, exposed by the falling tide drew our attention to the rocky shore, while transparent moon jellies pulsed through the green water below us.
Evening took us into the misty reach of Dundas Bay, where a couple of bears foraged at the shoreline, one a large grizzly with a blond back that almost looked like a saddle. We stood on the bow, whispering and pointing, until the mist closed in, the activity of the day caught up with us, and we retired to our cabins for a well-earned rest.
The appearance of several humpback whales at Pt. Adolphus brought us out on deck early this morning. Glassy calm seas in shades of pewter and grey reflected the light pillars of these great whales’ breath, and a few harbor porpoise and Steller sea lions popped up through the reflections. Bald eagles swooped from their perches atop tall Sitka spruce to scoop talons-full of small silvery herring, while thrush called from the forest.
This rich spot, a location where nutrient-rich waters are brought to the surface, attracts life of all sorts and sizes, from phytoplankton to fish, from birds to whales. Along the shore of Lemesurier Island, a group of four large humpbacks surfaced and dove together, no doubt herding krill or small fish into their capacious mouths. It turned out to be a day of mammals. Once we turned in to Idaho Inlet, we were able to linger with a raft of sea otters, watching as they rolled, preening their thick fur. Ashore at Fox Creek, we dug through bear scat clotted with the hair of a Sitka black-tailed deer. However, it was the new blooms on the meadow flowers that really took the show in the afternoon. A few chocolate lilies had opened, marsh violets, baneberry, shooting stars and more speckled the meadows.
Kayakers floated over the thick kelp ringing the Shaw Islands, an ear tuned to the distant but powerful breaths of humpback whales out in Icy Strait and the nearby melodic trill of a male winter wren. More sea otters and a few harbor seals turned the tables and investigated us as we tried to observe them. Colorful, slow-moving sea stars, exposed by the falling tide drew our attention to the rocky shore, while transparent moon jellies pulsed through the green water below us.
Evening took us into the misty reach of Dundas Bay, where a couple of bears foraged at the shoreline, one a large grizzly with a blond back that almost looked like a saddle. We stood on the bow, whispering and pointing, until the mist closed in, the activity of the day caught up with us, and we retired to our cabins for a well-earned rest.
