Inian Islands and George Islands
Early this morning, just before breakfast, we had a very interesting encounter with a mother and calf humpback whale. The behavior we witnessed was not only spectacular, but it gave us food for thought. The movements of these two animals, made us think that as the mother was feeding near the shoreline, the calf was heading the prey towards her by producing great splashes as it threw its tail out of the water repeatedly.
Our first activity of the day was to cruise in our Zodiacs along between the Inian Islands. This place is simply amazing, the strong currents and high abundance of wildlife combine to make this place a true marine Serengeti. A good number of interesting birds were seen, including pelagic cormorants, pigeon guillemots, peregrine falcons and more bald eagles than we could possibly count. The main highlight for most was to see the largest species of sea lion in the world, the Steller’s or Northern sea lion. Here, these giants find the perfect places to haul out on the rocks and to feed in the swift currents. Suddenly clouds of glaucous winged gulls would be attracted to the splashing on the water. These birds know well that the sea lions that have succeeded on their fishing quests have to shake their catch on the surface to tear it apart. As the gulls claimed their tidbits from the surface, they indicated to us the exact position of the action. We had impressive encounters of sea lions ripping apart fish like flounders, salmon, halibut and even an enormous skate.
George Island was our afternoon destination. Here we offered hikes that ascended to the highest point of the island. We walked through many remains that lay cold on the forest floor. These are rotten wood and rusty metal pieces of a World War II station that was strategically located to intercept the Japanese in case they entered through Cross Sound, but it never happened. We also had the chance to explore the kelp-covered shorelines by Zodiac and yayak. We could see and hear the distant humpback whale blows and the eagles perched on the hemlocks.
Southeast Alaska is one of those places that remind us of the past, when the earth was more alive, because here… it definitely is.
