Cruising Kelp Bay and Lake Eva
From first morning light our day was a quintessentially Southeast Alaskan. Low, wispy gray clouds danced across Baranof Island’s spine as we entered Kelp Bay for a morning cruise. The fjord’s narrow waterway makes for easy viewing of the intertidal zone, a favorite haunt of the Alexander Archipelago’s largest predator, the coastal brown bear. At the terminus of Kelp Bay’s Middle Arm, we discovered half a dozen brown bears exploring the bay’s salmon stream, some even accompanied by miniature versions of themselves.
With the briefings happily interrupted by a breaching humpback whale and lunch now out of the way, guests donned their ubiquitous rubber boots and headed ashore at Lake Eva in Hanus Bay. With the tide flooding and the salmon running, hikers were treated to a fishing demonstration steeped in tradition as well as instinct. Using skills honed over many summers a mother brown bear stood poised and ready in the rushing waterfall waiting for that piscine package of pelagic nutrients to make a fatal mistake. With every passing day her cub, adolescent in both time and temperament, must take heed to its mother’s every move and learn how to be the forest’s most enduring symbol of power, intelligence and resilience.
While guests were ashore basking in the prowess of a formidable land predator, Second Mate Chris and I went for a dive at a brand new location. From the outset of our dive it was going to be a fantastic one. Prior to the dive I had scanned the bottom with a hand-held depth sounder hoping to find a great dive site, however we can never tell for sure until it’s time to splash down. Today we were treated to a technicolor show of vibrant colors and beautiful fish. Quillback rockfish set against a backdrop of purple coralline algae and feather duster tube worms could be found at each successive drop-off as we continued our descent to 70 feet. At the point where kelp thins out and encrusted rock begins, we encountered several stunning fish, one being a patient and curious halibut and the other a burgundy, pink, purple, yellow, and tan fish called a red Irish lord, the most beautiful and camouflage Southeast Alaska fish. From the initial looks of it, these marine steps have been a productive refuge for these long-lived denizens and hopefully will for years to come.
