Inian Islands, Elfin Cove, Icy Strait
Where to begin on a day like today? When we awoke we were bypassing whale blows in the calm waters of Cross Sound. “We’re in good whale waters, and we should expect to have some better looks at whales a little bit later on in the day”. Hmmm…
We anchored at the Inian Islands with a threatening fog rolling in, and when the rain started just before our 90-minute morning Zodiac cruises many of us were thinking that maybe we would just sit this one out. Who could have imagined the action that lay ahead on the other side of Mosquito Pass?!?!? We expected to see Steller sea lions hauled out on a rock with a rising tide, but in an unimaginable scene we found ourselves in a frenzy of hundreds of these wild and charismatic pinnipeds thrashing salmon in their jaws and swirling in the currents, porpoising in our wakes and swimming pirouettes under our Zodiacs.
Large bulls weighing almost a ton slapped silver salmon on the water from side to side, trying to rip the salmon in half, since they have no molars with which to chew. Eager juveniles and opportunistic gulls splashed on the perimeters in hopes of getting scraps. In the background, humpback whales passed near the shores in their own quest for fish. How ironic that the humpback whale esophagus is too small to swallow a salmon, and they must feed on schools of much smaller fish!
We also saw cormorants and kittiwakes and marbled murrelets and sea otters, all with the wild Pacific swell breathing at us from the west. It was one of the best and wildest Inian Islands Zodiac cruises any of the expedition staff could remember.
Back on board, we started to feel the Pacific swell as we made our way out of South Inian Pass toward the charming little hamlet of Elfin Cove. Mary Jo Lord-Wild is one of the twelve year-round residents of Elfin Cove, and she gave us a very thought-provoking introduction to life in a remote Southeast Alaskan village. After lunch we took Zodiacs ashore in this “boardwalk village,” which means there are no roads or sidewalks, just docks and boardwalks that lead through a very creative, friendly, photogenic and personable community.
A late afternoon hike and beach walk at the overgrown navy outpost of George Island grounded us with a little nature and exercise, and then it was time to leave the rolling Pacific behind us and get back into the protected waters of Icy Strait. Again we were bypassing humpback whales, with the excuse that we were heading onward in hopes of “something better.”
At 2030 seven-year-old Mattie Friedman, who had already caught two fish at Elfin Cove earlier in the day, rushed into the dining room and excitedly exclaimed “There’s a jumping whale outside!” And jumping it was. The highlight of an already spectacular day was a single humpback whale slapping its 12-foot pectoral fins on the sea, thrashing its flukes and tailstock on the water, and breaching dozens …and dozens … and dozens of times directly in front of the ship. Photographic instructor Linda Burback requested that we position the ship for an “Alaskan” background, guests left the deck for coffee and cocktail breaks and returned, and a gaggle of youngsters energized the bridge and assisted Chief Officer Kendra Nelson in her tactful maneuvering around this whale. It was the show of a lifetime, and it may still be going on for all we know…
