Like the past three days in Southeast Alaska, today turned out to be bright, sunny, and warm. We spent the morning at a place called Fox Creek located on Chichagof Island. There, we had the opportunity to do nature walks along bear trails in the temperate rain forest as well as kayak around two small islands. A highlight of the walks was the discovery of a bright orange shelf fungus called chicken of the woods. We didn’t harvest any to take back to the ship, but when cooked it is surprisingly reminiscent of chicken! The kayakers spied curious harbor seals in a small cove as well as several bald eagles flying low over the water.
After lunch, we were treated to a spectacular show by a group of humpback whales. A calf was playing with Steller sea lions (or vice versa?) while the adults sent plumes of spray into air in all directions. It was a beautiful afternoon to be out on deck.
For our afternoon activities, we repositioned the ship to a nearby anchorage and from there, we took our inflatable boats out in search of marine wildlife. The Inian Islands are known for their flood tides that bring in swarms of fish and other food sources. These nutrients sustain sea birds, sea lions and whales, among other wildlife, and are a great place to spend several hours. We saw numerous sea lions fishing for salmon and others doing flips in the water beneath our boats.
Justin, our undersea specialist, went diving in the early afternoon and shared his underwater footage with all of us during Recap. While diving, he had a visit from several inquisitive sea lions who seemed more interested in his camera gear than him! It was fun to watch them poke their curious noses in the viewfinder and swim gracefully among the giant kelp forest.
