Exploring Icy Strait – Fox Creek and the Inian Islands
This morning National Geographic Sea Lion arrived at Fox Creek, and the crew lowered Zodiacs from the Lido deck for shore activities. Walks of various paces brought us through this second-growth forest dense with lush vegetation. We started along a beach filled with brightly colored flowers, ranging from red and yellow paintbrush, vibrant bunchberries, and delicious salmon berries. Some of our young bear explorers had their first attempt eating wild blueberries like a bear, face-first into the blueberry bush! Though we didn’t come face-to-face with any bears, there was a lot of evidence of their presence – scat, footprints, and scratching-post tree trunks filled with fur. We followed the swift-flowing Fox Creek, final resting place for the salmon that makes this forest so rich and lush.
Across the bay, kayaks were launched from Shaw Island, where we experienced peaceful waters and the sounds and sights of abundant wildlife. The distinctive “Pfffft” outbreath of humpback whales could be heard near and far. Paddlers drifted through large groups of spinning, chirping phalaropes, small brown and white shorebirds that spend most of their time offshore feeding near the water’s surface.
Twisting, turning, twirling, leaping, lunging, biting, tossing, munching. Our afternoon explorations around the Inian Islands introduced us to the graceful acrobatics of the Steller sea lions at the height of the salmon-rich incoming tide. As our Zodiacs zipped through the playful currents and paused in the calm eddies, we too twisted and turned to get better looks at these massive creatures. Sea otters played peek-a-boo through the kelp beds, while humpback whales were feeding and frolicking in the currents. We got great sightings of tufted puffins, pigeon guillemots, pelagic cormorants, various gulls and bald eagles.
At this writing, after a short break for our own feeding, we are called back out to the bow for a large group of humpback whales surrounding the ship. And so ends another day filled with the wonders of nature and wildlife in Southeast Alaska.
