Icy Straits and George Island
Well, Southeast Alaska pulled out all the stops today. Orcas, humpbacks, sunshine, the Fairweather mountain range, the Brady glacier, rolling fog banks, rock arches, kayaking, hiking and, most impressive of all: banana slugs. Lots and lots of banana slugs. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
At 6:00 am this morning our Expedition Leader’s mellow voice awoke us with the magic words “Orcas at twelve o’clock.” Three transient killer whales were diving and rolling off the bow of the ship. To our amazement, they disappeared below the surface and reappeared adjacent to a humpback whale. For the next fifteen minutes we held our breath as the whales circled each other. A smaller humpback surfaced nearby, presumably the calf of the larger one. An orca leaped into the air, crashing on top of the mother humpback. Trumpeting exhalations echoed in the still morning air. Then it was over. Seemingly uninjured, the humpbacks headed east while the orcas continued west. We headed below decks for breakfast.
We spent the rest of the morning following the orcas towards the Pacific, and then finally left them to explore the raging currents of the Inian Islands. There we encountered sea lions, sea otters, and an unexpected breaching humpback! By noon we had spent almost six hours watching whales and so we retired to the lounge to watch ourselves in the video chronicle preview. While we ate, the Sea Bird’s crew anchored the ship in the azure waters of Granite Cove on George Island and lowered Zodiacs and kayaks for our afternoon adventures.
George Island is renowned for several features: cobble and sand beaches, high rocky shorelines, enormous banana slugs and a World War II gun emplacement. We hiked, we paddled, we swam, and we watched slugs mate. Need I say more? Oh, and eleven elated kids took turns driving Zodiacs around the bay.
Finally we returned to the ship for hot showers, appetizers, recap and dinner. However, we were rudely interrupted by breaching and lunge-feeding humpback whales. Hundreds of black-legged kittiwakes hovered and called in the scattered spray and sunlight, diving after the food driven to the surface by the frenzy of whales. A gracious kitchen crew delayed our dinner so we could watch the whales gorge on theirs. Totally, utterly awesome. And there’s still tomorrow…
Well, Southeast Alaska pulled out all the stops today. Orcas, humpbacks, sunshine, the Fairweather mountain range, the Brady glacier, rolling fog banks, rock arches, kayaking, hiking and, most impressive of all: banana slugs. Lots and lots of banana slugs. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
At 6:00 am this morning our Expedition Leader’s mellow voice awoke us with the magic words “Orcas at twelve o’clock.” Three transient killer whales were diving and rolling off the bow of the ship. To our amazement, they disappeared below the surface and reappeared adjacent to a humpback whale. For the next fifteen minutes we held our breath as the whales circled each other. A smaller humpback surfaced nearby, presumably the calf of the larger one. An orca leaped into the air, crashing on top of the mother humpback. Trumpeting exhalations echoed in the still morning air. Then it was over. Seemingly uninjured, the humpbacks headed east while the orcas continued west. We headed below decks for breakfast.
We spent the rest of the morning following the orcas towards the Pacific, and then finally left them to explore the raging currents of the Inian Islands. There we encountered sea lions, sea otters, and an unexpected breaching humpback! By noon we had spent almost six hours watching whales and so we retired to the lounge to watch ourselves in the video chronicle preview. While we ate, the Sea Bird’s crew anchored the ship in the azure waters of Granite Cove on George Island and lowered Zodiacs and kayaks for our afternoon adventures.
George Island is renowned for several features: cobble and sand beaches, high rocky shorelines, enormous banana slugs and a World War II gun emplacement. We hiked, we paddled, we swam, and we watched slugs mate. Need I say more? Oh, and eleven elated kids took turns driving Zodiacs around the bay.
Finally we returned to the ship for hot showers, appetizers, recap and dinner. However, we were rudely interrupted by breaching and lunge-feeding humpback whales. Hundreds of black-legged kittiwakes hovered and called in the scattered spray and sunlight, diving after the food driven to the surface by the frenzy of whales. A gracious kitchen crew delayed our dinner so we could watch the whales gorge on theirs. Totally, utterly awesome. And there’s still tomorrow…
