Our morning began cruising through the foggy and cloud covered Inian Islands. This small group of islands stand at the mouth of Cross Sound, the most northern entrance to the Inside Passage. The tides that flow through this area create extremely strong currents that churn the waters, creating nutrient-rich waters that bring much of the wildlife here. Just before early morning yoga we were delighted to see a small group of humpback whales slowly gliding by, as well as otters scattered intermittently, just propelling themselves on their backs and taking in the sights of our ship passing by.
After the National Geographic Sea Lion anchored and had breakfast we enjoyed long cruises through the Inian Islands, exploring places with names like the Hobbit Hole. We saw massive Steller sea lions, who were extremely curious in our presence. We saw more sea otters, and several bald eagles. We even had an opportunity to spot a few deer wandering around on the shoreline.
With our exploration cruises completed we returned to the ship and pulled the anchor. After getting underway we made the relatively short transit to George Island for afternoon activities. The kayaking today was amazing, and it gave us fantastic individual views of the amazing ecosystem we are in— the kelp, the sea stars, these incredibly clear and rich waters. Today was a great day to really try to comprehend where we really are, as so few places in the world are like Alaska.
