Chatham Strait, Iyoukeen Cove, Basket Bay
Early morning found the National Geographic Sea Lion cruising south down Chatham Strait, along the west coast of Admiralty Island. It was a morning dedicated to looking for wildlife, and we weren’t disappointed. Just before breakfast one of our local Humpback whales decided to breach completely out of the water several times, to the delight of everyone that was up-and-about. As we continued on with our travels, a large group of Humpbacks were spotted ahead of the ship in what appeared to be an intense feeding mode. As it turned out, they seemed to be “bubble-netting” as we approached very slowly during breakfast. The call went out to join us “on the bow”, and everyone was treated to another incredible show of this dramatic and fascinating feeding behavior.
Soon it was time to leave our whale friends, and the decision was made to cross Chatham to a spot on Chichagof Island for a short morning walk near an abandoned gypsum mine. So the National Geographic Sea Lion pulled into its anchorage in Iyoukeen Cove at about 10:30 am, and we headed to shore for a quick exploration of this historical location. There was an old steam engine, tracks and pilings from the original mine that was built in 1924, which eventually turned toward logging in the early 1950s. We also saw a lot of brown bear signs along our walks, with indications that they were starting to catch, and eat, salmon. After a little over an hour it was time to return to the ship, eat lunch and head toward our afternoon destination for kayaking and Zodiac cruising.
We had a lovely cruise along Chichagoif Island, and arrived around three in a small rectangular inlet called Basket Bay. Within a short time the crew had Zodiacs and kayaks ready for action, and the activities started for our last afternoon. The one unique feature of this spot was an area at the head of the bay called the “grotto”, a narrow passage into a stream mouth with an over-hanging rock tunnel. We had timed our arrival with high tide to insure that we could travel into this stunningly beautiful area by both kayaks and Zodiacs. Even though the weather was taking a turn for the worst, everyone seemed to really enjoy their activities at this unique place in Southeast, Alaska. Oh yeah, the salmon are starting to run, even in the “grotto”! A great way, to end an incredible trip, into the largest “temperate” rain forest in the world.
