After leaving the Lake Eva area early last evening, the National Geographic Sea Lion cruised north up Chatham Strait and eventually turned west into Icy Strait, headed toward our destinations for today’s activities. First stop was a bay on the northwest corner of Chichagof Island called Port Althorp, whose shallow bottom eventually connects to a salmon spawning stream that disappears into rainforest and a maze of interconnected “bear trails” leading to and from this bounty of protein-rich fish! So right before breakfast our trusty ship anchored toward the head of the bay, and soon we were ready to explore this not-often visited area by foot and kayak.
Once ashore we organized into small groups to head off for a morning-long bushwhack and several moderate-length walks to the spawning stream and the forest beyond. Along the way we encountered fresh bear tracks in the intertidal mud. Great news! This meant that bears had been recently in the area and headed toward a meal of fresh fish. Once we approached the stream, it was obvious that the fishing had been very good for the bruins. There was an abundance of pink salmon crowded into this narrow shallow waterway, along with the remains of dead and recently consumed fish along its banks. Along with the pink salmon, there were remains of an earlier Chum salmon run in this same stretch of water. Meanwhile, the kayakers got to explore the bay from water level, accompanied by several sea otters and a large number of Lion’s Mane and Moon jellies floating gracefully in the bay.
We had another exciting adventure planned for the afternoon, so it was time to head back to the National Geographic Sea Lion for lunch before hitting the Inian Islands! After a short repositioning of the ship, the expeditionary craft were again lowered for cruises in this spectacular area just off the northern tip of Chichagof Island. The first round of cruises had barely started when a small group of killer whales was spotted just behind the ship in an area known as South Pass. The excitement was high as the expeditionary craft maneuvered to get a closer look as the “killers” dove and then resurfaced. Finally, there was a close encounter as one of the animals surfaced right next to a boat—so close you could have touched it, and then proceeded to swim right under it! Incredibly exciting!
The next round of cruises did not disappoint either. These guests saw a much larger group of resident killer whales, as well as a humpback whale actively feeding. We were also treated to a number of Northern sea lions catching salmon on the incoming tide. What a spectacular day in Southeast Alaska!
