During the evening hours, the National Geographic Sea Lion made her way northwards and then west out through Frederick Sound and into Chatham Strait. Winds were predicted to be 20 to 25 knots. As the National Geographic Sea Lion entered Chatham Strait those winds hit hard as she made her way slowly towards our morning anchorage. At some point in the night, our expedition leader was on the bridge and plans were changed to find shelter. As daylight crested, the bow of the ship was headed into Peril Strait, as we made our way towards Saook Bay. Naturalists were on the bow with the sunrise when a breaching humpback whale was spotted! At 6:30am a ship wide call went out and very soon the bow of the Sea Lion was filled with anxious whale watchers. The whale continued to breach in the early morning magic light, providing a fabulous start to our day. Again and again we watched as this animal soared into the air displaying its long pectoral flippers, water falling away in the high winds. The ship was expertly maneuvered in wind and chop for wonderful views of breaching and finally tale lobbing as the whale began to slow down to just surfacing for long breaths of air. Long before breakfast, we were already enjoying sightings beyond belief!
We continued into Peril Strait towards a protected area and took shelter in Saook Bay. Once inside, the anchor was dropped and a very impromptu and spontaneous landing began. Zodiacs ferried everyone ashore for a truly unusual and fortunate experience—walking the shoreline at an extreme low tide through a meadow and into old growth forest. So began a morning of exploration! Divided into several groups, we began a wonderfully relaxed passage across tidal flats, ducking under outer brush to see into the forest, discovering mushrooms, walking around a salmon berry grove via a bear trail into a huge stand of old growth forest. Early morning light filtered through western hemlock and Sitka spruce of varying ages mixed with shrubs of many sizes, all decorating a world rarely seen much less photographed, all planted deeply in all our memories.
All too soon we were called back to our waiting ship where lunch was about to be served! During lunch the National Geographic Sea Lion repositioned to the eastern shore of Baranof Island where we spent the afternoon both hiking and kayaking. The Lake Eva trail is newly renovated and easy for all levels of hikes. Long hikers headed out ready for a good leg stretch only to be stopped by a fishing bear. Soon both the medium and long hikers were together on the banks of the creek watching happily as a young bear fished, ate, and enjoyed fattening up for the winter. Kayakers also enjoyed watching the bear and then explored the small inlet and the river leading up to a small set of falls that eventually led to Lake Eva. This entire watershed is an important part of forest/salmon habitat and our afternoon was a wonderful close view of those relationships so critical to understanding the web of life that makes up the coastal temperate rain forest. This is a system that encompasses forest land, trees, rivers, lakes, fish, bears, birds, smaller forest animals, and human beings and their spirit that enjoys and perpetuates protection for it all.
