The fourth full day of our expedition around Southeast Alaska started with National Geographic Sea Bird entering the calm and protected waters of Kelp Bay. Located on the northeastern part of Baranoff Island, Kelp Bay is large body of water with several interesting coves and islands and we decided to go exploring the area by foot and kayak. Hikers got the chance to do a more adventurous bushwhack kind of hike and learned more about the temperate rain forest environment that dominates most of the Alexander Archipelago and the surrounding mainland; they admired the forest plant communities and saw evidence of the elusive beaver. Kayakers circumnavigated Pond Island and explored the surrounding coastline, watching the occasional harbor seal and numerous species of marine invertebrates in the intertidal region that were exposed out of the water by the low tide, like sea stars, chitons, mussels and barnacles, plus different kinds of brown and red seaweeds. In the meanwhile, our second mate Cameron Cormier and I went scuba diving off Pond Island to film the abundant marine life there. We brought back underwater video of several species of sea anemones, sea stars, shrimp, crab, and rockfish, among many more interesting species.
After a morning full of activities, we sailed around the northeast corner of Baranoff Island and entered Peril Strait to get to Lake Eva; we all went ashore and engaged in different types of hikes, from aerobic to moderate and photo walks. Lake Eva’s trail was created by the Forest Service and is a pleasure to hike; wide and with layer of gravel, it is easy on our feet and allowed us to admire the forest around us instead of worrying about our footing. Lots of bear poop and other signs, like chewed-up wood posts, reminded us that we are in bear country. Brown bear country! At a small and picturesque pond we watched numerous creatures in the shallow water including pink, chum, and sockeye salmon, plus cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden char; I got in the water to drop a couple of weighted cameras to get some footage with a unique fish’s point of view. The abundance of fish reminded us that the health and lush aspect of the forest is in direct relationship with all the nitrogen, phosphorous, and other nutrients that the salmon bring back from the ocean. A wonderful relationship between the forest and the sea, made possible by a remarkable fish.
