Icy Straits
I awoke with some trepidation about the weather this morning. When I arrived on the bridge, however, fears were calmed as we looked out at a typical Alaskan day...drizzle and overcast skies, but little wind. Excellent! We cruised slowly the northern coast of Chichagof Island into Idaho Inlet over a metallic sea, slight discrepancies in the surface turning into marbled murrelets leaving wakes that trailed serenely behind. Before long, larger dark bodies could be discerned floating: a rounded end and floppy end separated by maybe a foot of distance. On closer approach the furry heads became clear as well as their loosely webbed feet. Sea otters were all around, in separate social groups, some audacious in allowing the ship to pass closely before sliding smoothly under the surface. Others kept their distance.
We all had an exceptional morning at Fox Creek. We anchored and within minutes a humpback whale appeared, and passed the next hours feeding nearby. Kayakers heard the impact of 40 tons of whale hitting the surface during breaching, and the ephemeral but deep inhalation/exhalation of large breaths between dives. I joined a group which hiked deep into the surrounding forest, over trunk and root, under branch and spine, through stream and muskeg (Alaskan bog), into a forest with a ceiling of soft moving gray.
Our afternoon pass through the Inian Islands found Steller sea lions, humpback whales and sea otters. One female sea otter floated loaded with pup off our starboard side. How much more could we absorb? It was so very calm in Dundas Bay, across North Inian Pass, that Zodiacs were lowered for a late visit to this part of Glacier Bay National Park. It has been tranquil this evening. Black bears have been spotted from the bow by Austin and Tyler, glued to the spotting scope. We are surrounded by high mist falling over granite peaks into spruce and hemlock.
