We sailed into Kelp bay on the northeast side of Baranof Island early in the morning for adventures on Pond Island. As the name implies, Pond Island has many freshwater ponds, as well as beautiful muskegs. Since there are no maintained trails on the island, we felt like true explorers as we bushwhacked our way through the wilderness. Many people decided to use kayaks to discover what the intertidal had to offer. The waters were calm and peaceful and many invertebrates such as sea cucumbers, barnacles, muscles, clams, and multiple species of sea stars could be seen during the low tide! The undersea specialist took advantage of these productive waters and went scuba diving to she what could be found at depth. After descending beneath the plankton bloom, the visibility cleared up and the divers found many species they had never seen before-how exciting! Footage from the dive was enjoyed by all after dinner.
Just before lunch many brave (crazy?) souls decided to do the “polar plunge” and splashed into the frigid forty-something degrees Fahrenheit waters. Our photographers caught many funny moments from this icy plunge and we all shared some laughs over them later in the day.
As the afternoon carried on, we cruised through Chatham Strait, which separates Admiralty and Baranof islands. We were hoping to find some wildlife; Mother Nature did not disappoint! We had yet another amazing experience with killer whales! The playful pod raced back and forth along the ship and dazzled us with repeated breaching. We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse at a double breach by two youngsters-what a treat! As if our day hadn’t been exciting enough, we had some humpback whales visit us just before dinner. The sun set on another adventure-filled day.
