Idaho Inlet & the Inian Islands
They looked so cute with clamshells balanced on their tummies. Floating on their backs, smashing open clamshells and eating the fresh rubbery morsels from within, that was breakfast for the sea otters we watched this morning in Idaho Inlet. They stretched, they yawned, they fluffed their fur. Some of us mimicked their morning ritual before we came inside to our own breakfast. Mollusks were not a part of our morning meal or apparel.
We have been experiencing some exceptional tides these past few days, and this morning there was one humdinger of a flood tide. Sandwiched between two of the larger Inian Islands is a rocky islet used as a haulout by sea lions. The tide coming through this narrow slot created a mini-maelstrom of currents and eddy’s. These indented whirlpools looked like tidal belly buttons (innies) in the waters surface, some filling with and pulling down kelp and other algal detritus. In addition to the dramatic flow of the tide, there were the sea-going Rottweiler’s. Correctly identified, they were Steller sea lions, and it was time to eat. The tide acted as a fast food conveyor belt with salmon flooding in on the current right past the haulout. It was as easy as picking cherries from a tree. Salmon were flung and slung and falling apart all around us as sea lions ate their fill and gulls swooped in to clean up the scraps.
Walks in the woods and paddling in kayaks filled our afternoon at Fox Creek. We followed a stream for a portion of our walk, a stream filled with the wriggling, spawning, fighting, dying and dead bodies of pink salmon. We found their remains scattered along the banks of the creek and into the forest. The aroma of decay hung in the air. Upon our return to the Sea Bird, a gentle shower germinated a rainbow from the clouds, it grew to a full arch and returned to the water from whence it came. Were there treasures at the end? Perhaps, but they couldn’t have been better than our day spent amongst the wildlife and in the forests of Southeast Alaska.
They looked so cute with clamshells balanced on their tummies. Floating on their backs, smashing open clamshells and eating the fresh rubbery morsels from within, that was breakfast for the sea otters we watched this morning in Idaho Inlet. They stretched, they yawned, they fluffed their fur. Some of us mimicked their morning ritual before we came inside to our own breakfast. Mollusks were not a part of our morning meal or apparel.
We have been experiencing some exceptional tides these past few days, and this morning there was one humdinger of a flood tide. Sandwiched between two of the larger Inian Islands is a rocky islet used as a haulout by sea lions. The tide coming through this narrow slot created a mini-maelstrom of currents and eddy’s. These indented whirlpools looked like tidal belly buttons (innies) in the waters surface, some filling with and pulling down kelp and other algal detritus. In addition to the dramatic flow of the tide, there were the sea-going Rottweiler’s. Correctly identified, they were Steller sea lions, and it was time to eat. The tide acted as a fast food conveyor belt with salmon flooding in on the current right past the haulout. It was as easy as picking cherries from a tree. Salmon were flung and slung and falling apart all around us as sea lions ate their fill and gulls swooped in to clean up the scraps.
Walks in the woods and paddling in kayaks filled our afternoon at Fox Creek. We followed a stream for a portion of our walk, a stream filled with the wriggling, spawning, fighting, dying and dead bodies of pink salmon. We found their remains scattered along the banks of the creek and into the forest. The aroma of decay hung in the air. Upon our return to the Sea Bird, a gentle shower germinated a rainbow from the clouds, it grew to a full arch and returned to the water from whence it came. Were there treasures at the end? Perhaps, but they couldn’t have been better than our day spent amongst the wildlife and in the forests of Southeast Alaska.
