HEAT WAVE HITS PANHANDLE TOO!
The thermometer rose like a whale. The ocean was stretched flat like a bedsheet. The air still. The long summer day lingered like the mist from a whale's blow. We peeled our jackets, our sweaters, and our shirts- it was t-shirt weather at the 57th parallel! Sunscreen, sunhat, sunglasses, let's get casual...
In the morning we took the Zodiacs to Kuiu Island and had an opportunity to both kayak and go for a nature walk. Eagles soared overhead and pink salmon seemed to jump for joy around us. The water was so still that we could watch the marine life in the depths below.
Our walks took us along limestone cliffs that dated back to the end of the Permian era, 250 million years ago - a time just prior to one of the great mass extinctions of our planet. The cliffs were permeated with fossilized creatures, many of which were to soon perish forever with the upcoming meteor strike. The fauna included; Bryozoa, Pelecypoda, Brachiopoda, Fusilinids and Crinoids. This bay ranks as one of the richest Permian fossil beds in the world and all were basking in futuristic sun, forever in stone...
The afternoon ended with feeding, slapping, humpback whales and rare distant views of 9000+ ft. high "Devil's Thumb" peak on the Alaska/British Columbia border. The Alaskan summer's warmth, beauty and richness warmed our hearts and souls to the core.
The thermometer rose like a whale. The ocean was stretched flat like a bedsheet. The air still. The long summer day lingered like the mist from a whale's blow. We peeled our jackets, our sweaters, and our shirts- it was t-shirt weather at the 57th parallel! Sunscreen, sunhat, sunglasses, let's get casual...
In the morning we took the Zodiacs to Kuiu Island and had an opportunity to both kayak and go for a nature walk. Eagles soared overhead and pink salmon seemed to jump for joy around us. The water was so still that we could watch the marine life in the depths below.
Our walks took us along limestone cliffs that dated back to the end of the Permian era, 250 million years ago - a time just prior to one of the great mass extinctions of our planet. The cliffs were permeated with fossilized creatures, many of which were to soon perish forever with the upcoming meteor strike. The fauna included; Bryozoa, Pelecypoda, Brachiopoda, Fusilinids and Crinoids. This bay ranks as one of the richest Permian fossil beds in the world and all were basking in futuristic sun, forever in stone...
The afternoon ended with feeding, slapping, humpback whales and rare distant views of 9000+ ft. high "Devil's Thumb" peak on the Alaska/British Columbia border. The Alaskan summer's warmth, beauty and richness warmed our hearts and souls to the core.
