This morning the National Geographic Sea Lion awoke to but another stunning day in Southeast, Alaska. After breakfast we headed into the temperate rainforest that spans the length of this 500-mile long Alexander Archipelago. The trail to Lake Eva on Baranof Island was an incredible journey through the emerald forest. Walking up alongside a salmon stream our radar was on as we dove into the depths of the brown bears domain. Within the first ¼ mile we spotted a bear in a meadow adjacent to the trail and paralleled his movement as he headed away from the stream. Eventually disappearing we continued on our way to Lake Eva so thrilled by our close encounter with Ursus arctos. This particular subspecies speaks to the glacial history of this area as a small portion of the mitochondrial DNA represents the polar bear who used to live in this area (alongside caribou and lemmings) when the climate was colder and covered by ice. Female polar bears mated with the newly arriving male brown bears making these ABC bears incredibly unique. Focused on fishing and eating the fattest parts of the fish (eggs, skin and brain) these bears if in a healthy state will leave the meat behind as they want to pack on as many lbs as possible before hibernation.
Further into the forest we encountered some incredible trees. Huge western hemlocks with hollow hearts (heartrot) stood majestic and gargantuan Sitka spruce towered over the streams. These trees are so large in part because the bears are feeding salmon to the forest. As the bears drag the salmon into the woods the decomposing carcasses and the urine and fecal material of bears help to nourish the forest with nitrogen from a marine isotope (N15) only found in the ocean….truly incredible the cycle of life.
Up at Lake Eva some took a dip (fully clothed mined you) before heading back down the trail. River otters were spotted in the lily pond and down at the falls a bear put on a real show!
After lunch we repositioned further down the coast to Tagatz Bay and had an incredible kayak and stand up paddleboard session before the crazy people took a plunge into not so cold waters (55 degrees…pretty balmy). Meanwhile back on the ship deadheads united and Jerry’s voice could be heard throughout the vessel as we had a memorial for his passing so many years ago…But another incredible day in Alaska!
