Elfin Cove & George Island
This morning we awoke to the cute furry faces of the largest member of the weasel family – sea otters. In the protected waters of Idaho Inlet, we emerged from our cabins sleepy-eyed and stood quietly on deck while several sea otters peered up at us, paws and flippers in the air. Later, we stemmed the flood tide pouring through the Inian Islands while watching Steller sea lions fishing for salmon. Our late morning was spent ashore in the tiny fishing village of Elfin Cove, shopping for kelp salsa, smoked salmon and handmade crafts.
For the afternoon we went ashore on George Island, hiking on forest trails to arrive either at a gorgeous overlook and a WWII cannon, or at a delightfully surprising little bog. We found gentians and columbines, banana slugs and chickadees as we wound our way through the forest. We alternated our hikes with Zodiac cruises around the island, where we spotted horned puffins and ancient murrelets, as well as myriad sea creatures clinging to the rocks and in the kelp forest beneath us.
The big surprise of the day came after dinner. We rounded the corner at Pt. Adolphus, and encountered a flurry of humpback whale activity. With mackerel sky sunset and rainbows overhead, we watched a young humpback calf in a high energy acrobatic display that included repeated breaching, rolling, pectoral fin slapping and general fun and frolic. We then spotted the unmistakable sign of humpbacks feeding cooperatively off in the distance, and moved up for a closer look. Imagine the surprise as we saw eight whales lunge through the water with their mouths wide open, palates and baleen clearly visible in the last light of this incredible day.
This morning we awoke to the cute furry faces of the largest member of the weasel family – sea otters. In the protected waters of Idaho Inlet, we emerged from our cabins sleepy-eyed and stood quietly on deck while several sea otters peered up at us, paws and flippers in the air. Later, we stemmed the flood tide pouring through the Inian Islands while watching Steller sea lions fishing for salmon. Our late morning was spent ashore in the tiny fishing village of Elfin Cove, shopping for kelp salsa, smoked salmon and handmade crafts.
For the afternoon we went ashore on George Island, hiking on forest trails to arrive either at a gorgeous overlook and a WWII cannon, or at a delightfully surprising little bog. We found gentians and columbines, banana slugs and chickadees as we wound our way through the forest. We alternated our hikes with Zodiac cruises around the island, where we spotted horned puffins and ancient murrelets, as well as myriad sea creatures clinging to the rocks and in the kelp forest beneath us.
The big surprise of the day came after dinner. We rounded the corner at Pt. Adolphus, and encountered a flurry of humpback whale activity. With mackerel sky sunset and rainbows overhead, we watched a young humpback calf in a high energy acrobatic display that included repeated breaching, rolling, pectoral fin slapping and general fun and frolic. We then spotted the unmistakable sign of humpbacks feeding cooperatively off in the distance, and moved up for a closer look. Imagine the surprise as we saw eight whales lunge through the water with their mouths wide open, palates and baleen clearly visible in the last light of this incredible day.
