While it is the sights and scenery of Southeast Alaska that we tend to focus upon (for all too obvious reasons), today we were struck by the sounds of this region as well. Rising with the raising of the anchor we sailed along the still waters of Icy Strait to Point Adolphus. Our first sighting of the day was of a group of killer whales. We then encountered a large group of humpback whales feeding on balls of herring. As magical as this morning's view was, it was the sounds of these majestic marine mammals that enthralled us. Not only could their "blows" be heard quite clearly across the calm waters, their chirps, whistles, grunts, sighs and songs were captured as well by a hydrophone lowered into the water. This serenade added to the magic of the moment as they swam around and beneath our silent, drifting ship. It was the best whale vocalization we have heard in "real time" to date.

As the sun burned through the morning's mist we slipped silently between the islands in Cross Sound to watch sea otters and Steller sea lions in their natural environment. All was quiet on the bow, but the waters rushing through the islands with the incoming tide, creating whirlpools and rapids, gave us a hint of the ever-flowing, all-powerful ocean upon which we traveled.

In the afternoon, our time ashore in Idaho Inlet gave us the opportunity to listen to the breeze rustling through a field of waist-high grass, the splashing of schools of salmon as they struggled up a shallow stream, the sounds of the stream itself, the cries of eagles and gulls, and the beating of hundreds of wings taking to the air as we kayaked along the shore. Perhaps most impressive of all was the subtlety in the surrounding silence of Southeast Alaska.