Yesterday, our focus was on the immense, the grand; so today we pulled out the hand lens and got a little more intimate. We began the day with Zodiac tours among the icebergs of LeConte Bay. However, a -3.8 ft. tide exposed creatures seldom seen, and we just had to go investigate. We found painted anemones and tunicates known as pacific sea peaches on a cliff 20 feet below the high tide line, with thick beds of blue mussels and rockweed above us.
After lunch we tied up in the fishing community of Petersburg, and ventured out in the mist for a hike. Spruce, hemlock and cedar trees towered above, but our attention kept being drawn to the forest floor - by slime molds and twinflowers, pixie cup fungi and large piles of bear scat. Perhaps one of the most interesting small creatures was this delicate round-leaved sundew, an insectivorous plant that grows in the nutrient-poor environment of the muskeg.
In a mere 48 hours the wonders of Southeast Alaska have captivated us, big and small.
