We awoke to gray skies just outside the Inian Islands, but by the time breakfast was finished the sky was sunny. We spent the morning Zodiac cruising through the Inian Islands. Located at the mouth of a cross sound, they are a shallow shelf through which powerful currents push and pull water into and out of the Inside Passage with the tides. This makes the Inian Islands teem with life. As we cruised on our Zodiacs, we watched black-legged kittiwakes, pelagic cormorants, and bald eagles snatch food from the surface while Steller sea lions dove underneath us and sea otters rested in the kelp.
After lunch, we repositioned southwest of the Inians to George Island. While some guests kayaked in the protected waters on the east side of the island, others went ashore. As we hiked across the island, we saw remnants of the historical naval outpost that was built and manned during WWII to protect the United States from potential Japanese invasion. The highlight of the hike was the 18-ton, 6-inch, 50-caliber gun, and the Pacific wrens whose beautiful, complex songs we heard as we hiked through the forest. Another day well spent exploring the nature and history of Southeast Alaska.
