Sitkoh Bay & Chatham Straight
After leaving the town of Sitka last night, Sitkoh Bay greeted us this morning just before breakfast. Forging further into the bay, we passed Chatham Cannery, active until 1974. There are still buildings along the shore that they used in 1904 when it was the largest cannery in Southeast Alaska. The National Geographic Sea Lion dropped anchor at high tide in Florence Bay, a smaller bay within Sitkoh Bay, for a beautiful morning of kayaking and hiking.
Kayakers experienced a smooth ride on the incredibly glassy waters of the bay, paddling over the misty mountains of old-growth Sitka and Hemlock reflected below. Hikers got a different view of the trees, looking up through their needled branches while passing berry-laden Salmonberry bushes. This was the first visit to the Tongass National Forest, which we will see again, as it makes up about 70% of southeast Alaska.
The highlight of the entire day came just as we were getting ready for dinner, when a pod of killer whales was spotted in the distance in Chatham Straight. The largest of the dolphin family, the orca whale is a very uncommon sighting; so, the ships cabins and hallways emptied onto the bow, where we "oohed" and "aahed" to the strength and grace of their surfacing, porpoising and tail flops. The pod of twenty or more was clearly on the move, headed southwest. They cruised with us for a while and we eventually bid them farewell and watched as they charged off towards the distant setting sun.
After leaving the town of Sitka last night, Sitkoh Bay greeted us this morning just before breakfast. Forging further into the bay, we passed Chatham Cannery, active until 1974. There are still buildings along the shore that they used in 1904 when it was the largest cannery in Southeast Alaska. The National Geographic Sea Lion dropped anchor at high tide in Florence Bay, a smaller bay within Sitkoh Bay, for a beautiful morning of kayaking and hiking.
Kayakers experienced a smooth ride on the incredibly glassy waters of the bay, paddling over the misty mountains of old-growth Sitka and Hemlock reflected below. Hikers got a different view of the trees, looking up through their needled branches while passing berry-laden Salmonberry bushes. This was the first visit to the Tongass National Forest, which we will see again, as it makes up about 70% of southeast Alaska.
The highlight of the entire day came just as we were getting ready for dinner, when a pod of killer whales was spotted in the distance in Chatham Straight. The largest of the dolphin family, the orca whale is a very uncommon sighting; so, the ships cabins and hallways emptied onto the bow, where we "oohed" and "aahed" to the strength and grace of their surfacing, porpoising and tail flops. The pod of twenty or more was clearly on the move, headed southwest. They cruised with us for a while and we eventually bid them farewell and watched as they charged off towards the distant setting sun.
