George Island, Inian Islands & Point Adolphus
We awoke this morning under cloudy skies, heading west through Icy Strait, traveling past the south end of the Inian Islands, on our way to George Island and the morning activities of kayaking and hiking. This particular sight was a cannon emplacement during World War II, after the Japanese started their attack on the Aleutians. It was interesting to see the history through the remaining artifacts that are scattered around the island. Marca entertained the kids with plaster castings of Sitka black tail deer tracks that we found on the sand beach on the other side of the island. Many of the guests followed the guides up a muddy trail to see the cannon, while a few of us went on a leisurely walk through the woods looking at other artifacts from the war, as well as a few banana slugs. As half of us were doing our walks, there was a large group that went kayaking, many of which circled to the west side to get a better look at the sea arch that was there. Toward the end, our landing the tide was at its lowest and we had time to do some good “tide pooling”, the kids loved it!
As soon as everybody was back on board the captain repositioned the ship a short ways to the north side of the Inian Islands for our afternoon adventure: Zodiac cruises through the channels between the islands. It was a little foggy, but that did not discourage us in the least and we were off right after lunch. Hardly away from the ship, we saw a large adult sea otter, which we spent a few moments observing and then it was off again to find our main quarry, the Northern sea lions. Within a matter of moments their calls were heard over the engine in the distance, and there they were hauled out along the shore laying on rocks. These are the largest sea lions in the world, with males weighing possibly over a ton. And this is what we are seeing, males that use this area to feed, many of them younger, non-breeding individuals. Many of them were out in the channel, actively hunting salmon as another wave of the fish were coming through during the rising tide. We were thrilled a number of times as some of the larger males popped up very close to the Zodiacs and checked us out! Finally, our trip took us to the west side and a good look at some tufted puffins which were flying around our boats. What a cruise!
Soon after the last Zodiac returned, we were on our way again, cruising toward Idaho inlet to hopefully see more sea otters, and we weren’t disappointed. Then it was on toward Point Adolphus and more close encounters with Humpback whales. This area is a major feeding grounds for a large number of these animals during the summer months. Finally, we anchor for the evening, before heading to Glacier Bay early in the morning.
We awoke this morning under cloudy skies, heading west through Icy Strait, traveling past the south end of the Inian Islands, on our way to George Island and the morning activities of kayaking and hiking. This particular sight was a cannon emplacement during World War II, after the Japanese started their attack on the Aleutians. It was interesting to see the history through the remaining artifacts that are scattered around the island. Marca entertained the kids with plaster castings of Sitka black tail deer tracks that we found on the sand beach on the other side of the island. Many of the guests followed the guides up a muddy trail to see the cannon, while a few of us went on a leisurely walk through the woods looking at other artifacts from the war, as well as a few banana slugs. As half of us were doing our walks, there was a large group that went kayaking, many of which circled to the west side to get a better look at the sea arch that was there. Toward the end, our landing the tide was at its lowest and we had time to do some good “tide pooling”, the kids loved it!
As soon as everybody was back on board the captain repositioned the ship a short ways to the north side of the Inian Islands for our afternoon adventure: Zodiac cruises through the channels between the islands. It was a little foggy, but that did not discourage us in the least and we were off right after lunch. Hardly away from the ship, we saw a large adult sea otter, which we spent a few moments observing and then it was off again to find our main quarry, the Northern sea lions. Within a matter of moments their calls were heard over the engine in the distance, and there they were hauled out along the shore laying on rocks. These are the largest sea lions in the world, with males weighing possibly over a ton. And this is what we are seeing, males that use this area to feed, many of them younger, non-breeding individuals. Many of them were out in the channel, actively hunting salmon as another wave of the fish were coming through during the rising tide. We were thrilled a number of times as some of the larger males popped up very close to the Zodiacs and checked us out! Finally, our trip took us to the west side and a good look at some tufted puffins which were flying around our boats. What a cruise!
Soon after the last Zodiac returned, we were on our way again, cruising toward Idaho inlet to hopefully see more sea otters, and we weren’t disappointed. Then it was on toward Point Adolphus and more close encounters with Humpback whales. This area is a major feeding grounds for a large number of these animals during the summer months. Finally, we anchor for the evening, before heading to Glacier Bay early in the morning.
