There is something that happens to the soul when you wake up and immediately have wildlife to view. It centers you, and allows you to remember that nature is not something to visit; it is something to experience every day. Today was one of those mornings, here on board the National Geographic Sea Lion. The ship was still when everyone awoke, it was obvious that something special was happening, and there was no need to make an announcement to head out on deck, everyone just knew it was something you should do. Close to shore, there was a humpback whale feeding, a Sitka deer meandered along the beach, and a sea otter floated gently on its back, for this moment in time, all was right with the world. After a time, breakfast was served, and we prepared ourselves for the day ahead.
First on our agenda were the Inian Islands, a small group of islands at the top end of the Inside Passage. As is often said by our expedition leader, Lisa, “if you ask our naturalist staff how they would rate the expedition landing craft cruise at the Inian Islands, they would tell you it is one of the top five expedition landing craft cruises of all of Lindblad Expeditions destinations”.
No sooner had we left our mother ship then we observing various species of gulls and cormorants resting on a rock exposed by low tide. A playful sea otter watched us as we watched the birds, I wonder what he thought of the visit by humans, and why weren’t they swimming like all of the other self-respecting mammals in the ocean. Our adventure continued and our next visit was with a small group of Steller sea lions hauled out on the rocks of an island that marks the end of the passage, and the beginning of the open ocean. There would be more sea lions to come, but our first look is always the most exciting. A brief interruption of a whale passing by and then we were off to a small alcove of protected water were the bull kelp choked the life from waves rolling in from the ocean, and gave a group of sea otters a place of refuge. Nothing elicits feelings of warmth and happiness than watching the antics of otters going about their daily business. Ok, maybe labrador puppies, but nothing else. There were mother otters with young pups constantly trying to ride their mother’s bellies, adults busily grooming their fur, and lone animals who watched us, maybe still wondering why we preferred boats to swimming. Motoring a little further, groups of sea lions hauled out on rocks rested until a neighboring sea lion would disturb its rest by claiming more than their fair share of the rock. On our second round of cruising, the incoming tide brought with it the promise of lunch and many of the sea lions began to feed. I photographed a sea lion eating a flat fish of some kind; one of the other boats saw a sea lion catch a salmon. Sloppy eaters, the sea lions left many scraps for the congregation of eagles that swooped down for a bit of fish not consumed by their sea lion friends.
When afternoon came it had already felt like we had experience a full day, but more was yet to come. We headed to a place called Fox Creek to see firsthand what seemed too many to be a bear haven. If I was a brown bear, this would be the place I would like to live. First there was the beautiful pasture filed with wildflowers and a spectacular view. Just right for a hungry bear, fresh from hibernation, to spend time grazing on young sedges. A short walk into the forest brought us to a set of perennial bear tracks. These impressions in the ground are the results of bears using not only the same path, but the same footprints, year after year, after year. The old footprints were a stark contrast to the fresh prints found only yards away. Then we found another reason that this place is such a wonderful place to be a bear, a large patch of salmon berries ripe for the picking. Of course we needed to see just what it is about these berries that the bears love so much. All can now speak from experience about how tasty these juicy berries are. The third and final reason for it being such a great bear habitat was the pristine river that gives the place its name. Soon the waters of Fox Creek will be filled with thousands of migrating salmon, just in time for the bears to fatten up before another winter in Southeast Alaska.
