For our expedition team there's nothing better than having your expedition leader tell you that we're having an “expedition day” where we let the movements of wildlife entirely guide our plans in such an such place. Having left Sitka late last night our expedition leader, John Mitchell and Captain Andrew Cook had decided on putting our expedition experience to the test for the first full day here in Southeast Alaska. Peril Strait, a 40-mile-long passage leading us from Sitka and the open North Pacific to Chatham Strait to the east is fraught with difficult navigation and surrounded by amazing scenery.
For the morning we visited a rarely explored area of Peril Strait called Krestof Sound and inside of that, De Groff Bay. As best as we can recall this ship had only visited here once before and that was to skirt some unfavorable weather conditions, however it was that visit that intrigued our expedition leader to return someday and see more of this incredibly scenic area. This long and convoluted body of water packed with tiny islands is a perfect place to explore by kayak and our inflatable boats, so that is exactly what we did. The kayaks departed “Henry” Beach about one-third of the way down the fjord and set off for the near two-mile paddle into the back of De Groff Bay where they were able to explore the entire bay for the morning, and some of our compliment of guests set out in our expedition landing craft to cruise the shoreline.
Our afternoon was spent navigating the remainder of Peril Strait. Typically we would transit this in the late evening or very early morning but due to our later departure time and the activities at De Groff Bay we were fortunate enough to see this scenic waterway during the daylight hours. This was a great benefit to us as we were able not only to appreciate the narrowest portion of the strait, Surgius Narrows, but also in the midst of that tricky piece of navigation we lingered long enough in the slack current to observe a couple of humpback whales. While watching one of the whales casually cruise along the shoreline its companion performed a magnificent full breach directly in front of the ship. Though it happened very quickly, and no one was able to photograph it, this impressive sight awed us all as 40 tons of whale hurled out of the water and crashed down with a thunderous boom and massive explosion of water. Just a few minutes after the whales gave us their welcome to Southeast Alaska, keen-eyed naturalist Steve Morello spotted a coastal brown bear grazing on the emergent sedges along the shoreline. For all of us on board it was a fabulous start to our expedition here in Southeast Alaska.
