Idaho Inlet, Fox Creek and Inian Islands
When our expedition leader Tom gave his morning wake-up call, we were in Idaho Inlet, and two humpback whales were logging (resting) nearby. Sea otters were floating on their backs close to us. Our ship drifted silently on the calm bay, and we listened to humpback whales breathing. Two other sea otters rolled and tumbled around each other near the ship’s bow.
We spent the morning here, kayaking around Shaw Island, where the water was clear enough to peer down at sea anemones attached to the sea floor. Kayakers paddled with many mammals near them: humpback whales, Steller sea lions, and sea otters. Walkers went ashore for walks on Chichagof Island near Fox Creek. Since it was a very low tide, many sea stars, snails, kelp crabs and other intertidal creatures were uncovered. Some of us heard a sound I call ‘barnacle seltzer,’ the sound that countless millions of the critters make as they tighten their shells upon sensing nearing footsteps.
Beyond a shoreline meadow with tall, pink fireweed, we saw bear scratching trees. We also saw ‘hotprints,’ a path where a bear stepped in the same footprints over so many years that there are depressions in the mossy ground with no vegetation. Some hikes continued through inland meadows, over creeks and streams, and into forest to see an enormous bear scratching tree.
Our afternoon was devoted to cruising in Zodiacs among the Inian Islands, a cluster of islands where the Pacific Ocean meets the Inside Passage. There are strong currents and the water teems with rich life. It’s also a highway for salmon returning from the open ocean to spawning streams in SE Alaska. We saw Steller sea lions feeding on salmon, bringing them up and slapping hard on the surface, and gulls were grabbing any scraps. A large group of sea lions seemed to be chasing a humpback whale as it swam close to a shore. We watched several humpback whales feeding; a whale surfaced with its mouth open, and hundreds of kittiwakes were picking small, silver fish from the water’s surface. There were numerous cormorants and marbled murrelets, too. In calmer waters, scattered sea otters were floating near kelp on the surface. We were overwhelmed with wildlife and wilderness.
After dinner, near Point Adolphus, about a dozen humpback whales were breathing and diving together in close proximity. Using the hydrophone, we could hear their feeding vocalizations! Soon after they’d dive, we’d hear their eerie feeding calls - they were engaged in cooperative bubble net feeding! It was very late twilight, but at times we could see their bubble nets, and their huge open mouths at the surface. More than once they all swam right past the bow. What a long and gloriously memorable day. We went to sleep tired and very happy, with the feeding sounds of humpbacks in our heads.
