As the Sea Bird rounded Morris Reef, Sitkoh Bay stretched out in front of us, a narrow inlet which seemed to end in an extensive salt marsh. After yesterday's rain, the broken clouds and sunny breaks between the fogbanks and somber shaded, tree-clad hills formed a welcoming panorama. Slowly the Sea Bird slid up the narrow channel, and within view of the terminal mud flats and salt marsh she anchored for the morning. Soon the tranquil atmosphere was shattered with the sharp sounds and vibrant colors of Zodiacs ferrying groups of us to selected landing sites on shore.
Our group was dropped on the east side of the channel, on a gravel beach close to the extensive mudflats and salt marshes that formed the head of the bay. Leaving our lifejackets just above high-water line, we started our hike towards the salt marshes. Turning over a few rocks to expose to us some now-familiar isopods or polychaete worms, we proceeded slowly towards the salt marsh, carefully scanning ahead for possible grazing bears. On the mudflats we found and discussed lugworm castings, and speculated on the challenges that animals face when trying to make a living on inter-tidal sandy or muddy flats. We were barely ten minutes into our hike, when the radios of the two naturalists sprung to life, and a naturalist on the other side of the bay informed us that there was a bear behind us, some one hundred yards away. As we swiveled around we saw that indeed, a large brown bear had come out of the forest, and was contentedly grazing on grasses and sedges, near the edge of the bay, between us and the pile of our life vests.
There is a unique feeling of excitement one experiences when seeing a large animal, especially a potentially dangerous large animal, near enough to see its detailed features, without any kind of barrier between one self and the animal. We will never forget the moment we realized that we were not on the ship, not even on a Zodiac, we were sharing with the bear his range, his domain. This was as real a wilderness experience as one can get: the wild landscape, the smell of the sea, the sound of wind on water, the Alaskan sunshine, and the bear.
Since our hairy visitor showed no interest in us, even though he must have been aware of our proximity, we decided to continue our hike into the salt marsh area, keeping an eye on the bear, just in case. When we reached the stream that runs into the head of the bay, we called for a Zodiac pick-up. On our way to the Sea Bird, from the safety of the Zodiac we had a wonderful long look at our bear, as he nonchalantly continued devouring mouthfuls of luscious green grass. Once in a while he looked at us, but did not appear to be bothered by a small flotilla of Zodiacs less than a hundred yards off shore.
