Sitka and St. Lazaria Island
Yet again, a spectacular blue-sky day in Southeast Alaska! Very early this morning a large brown bear sow with her second year cub were greeting the morning along the shores of Neva Strait as we made our way through this narrow waterway toward charming “Sitka by the sea.” Nearly a score of bald eagles as well as several stellar sea lions and a thousand gulls escorted us through the breakwater. We passed hundreds of fishing boats in the marina and saw the first houses of this historical small town on the rocky outer coast. The steeply rugged and snowcapped mountains of Baranof Island were sharply outlined against the cerulean blue sky and thoroughly dwarfed the man-made structures of this former Russian capital of Alaska.
In Sitka, we visited the Alaska Raptor Rehabilitation Center, St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Church, and the Historical Park with its quiet forest walk among tall and intriguing carved cedar totem poles. Some of us also indulged in a bit of shopping at the local shops and galleries.
This afternoon the calm sea state led us offshore past the watchful dormant crater of Mt. Edgecombe and on into the long slow swells of the Pacific Ocean. The Sea Lion did not make a wrong turn and end up in the tropics as this image suggests; the photo was taken during a Zodiac cruise around St. Lazaria, an island off the outer coast of Southeast Alaska. St. Lazaria Island is a refuge for nesting seabirds and today we observed thousands of the local inhabitants.
Hundreds of tufted puffins circled our inflatable boats and flew overhead, delighting everyone with their comical oversized bright beaks and frantic wing-beats. A raft of several thousand common murres lifted off the water and created an awesome cloud of black and white mystery. Glaucous winged gulls were settled on top of many of the basalt cliffs, while pelagic cormorants claimed their roosts along the steep cliff faces. A few scattered sea otters and several black oystercatchers balanced the stunning scene while our senses and our cameras were filled with the joy of nature’s abundance.
Yet again, a spectacular blue-sky day in Southeast Alaska! Very early this morning a large brown bear sow with her second year cub were greeting the morning along the shores of Neva Strait as we made our way through this narrow waterway toward charming “Sitka by the sea.” Nearly a score of bald eagles as well as several stellar sea lions and a thousand gulls escorted us through the breakwater. We passed hundreds of fishing boats in the marina and saw the first houses of this historical small town on the rocky outer coast. The steeply rugged and snowcapped mountains of Baranof Island were sharply outlined against the cerulean blue sky and thoroughly dwarfed the man-made structures of this former Russian capital of Alaska.
In Sitka, we visited the Alaska Raptor Rehabilitation Center, St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Church, and the Historical Park with its quiet forest walk among tall and intriguing carved cedar totem poles. Some of us also indulged in a bit of shopping at the local shops and galleries.
This afternoon the calm sea state led us offshore past the watchful dormant crater of Mt. Edgecombe and on into the long slow swells of the Pacific Ocean. The Sea Lion did not make a wrong turn and end up in the tropics as this image suggests; the photo was taken during a Zodiac cruise around St. Lazaria, an island off the outer coast of Southeast Alaska. St. Lazaria Island is a refuge for nesting seabirds and today we observed thousands of the local inhabitants.
Hundreds of tufted puffins circled our inflatable boats and flew overhead, delighting everyone with their comical oversized bright beaks and frantic wing-beats. A raft of several thousand common murres lifted off the water and created an awesome cloud of black and white mystery. Glaucous winged gulls were settled on top of many of the basalt cliffs, while pelagic cormorants claimed their roosts along the steep cliff faces. A few scattered sea otters and several black oystercatchers balanced the stunning scene while our senses and our cameras were filled with the joy of nature’s abundance.
