The Inian Islands, Icy Straits, Southeastern Alaska
After spending the night anchored off Lemusurier Island, we set out on our adventure early in the morning towards the Inian Islands. The day was gray with a heavy low cloud cover, but off in the distance some sunlight had broken through and was illuminating the Brady Glacier to the north.
Unexpectedly this morning, we had a big number of orcas or killer whales, in three important subpods show up. The orcas were definitely fishing, and we had a marvelous time watching them for a long time. Birds were also taking part in this feast, catching smaller surface fish.
After Breakfast we anchored and landed with our Zodiacs in the vicinity of George Island. Short and long hikes took place, as well as kayaking. The waters were quite calm, and the views of the rocky shores were very attractive as they moved in and out of the low fog around us.
Later in the afternoon we had amazing views of sea lions, and the incredible sea otters, the smallest of the marine mammals. They float on their backs with their extremities in the air and their long tails in the water. We also visited the entrance to Idaho Inlet in search of these small very furry animals (their throat area has approximately a million hairs per square inch), and sailed on to Point Adolphus, in Icy Straits. Here we had excellent views of a big group of humpback whales, spending time in Southeastern Alaska’s rich waters to fatten up for their long migration back to Hawaii for the winter. It was sheer adventure to watch these animals blow and dive in unison! After dinner members of the Alaska Whale Foundation discussed the social feeding behavior of these big whales.
After spending the night anchored off Lemusurier Island, we set out on our adventure early in the morning towards the Inian Islands. The day was gray with a heavy low cloud cover, but off in the distance some sunlight had broken through and was illuminating the Brady Glacier to the north.
Unexpectedly this morning, we had a big number of orcas or killer whales, in three important subpods show up. The orcas were definitely fishing, and we had a marvelous time watching them for a long time. Birds were also taking part in this feast, catching smaller surface fish.
After Breakfast we anchored and landed with our Zodiacs in the vicinity of George Island. Short and long hikes took place, as well as kayaking. The waters were quite calm, and the views of the rocky shores were very attractive as they moved in and out of the low fog around us.
Later in the afternoon we had amazing views of sea lions, and the incredible sea otters, the smallest of the marine mammals. They float on their backs with their extremities in the air and their long tails in the water. We also visited the entrance to Idaho Inlet in search of these small very furry animals (their throat area has approximately a million hairs per square inch), and sailed on to Point Adolphus, in Icy Straits. Here we had excellent views of a big group of humpback whales, spending time in Southeastern Alaska’s rich waters to fatten up for their long migration back to Hawaii for the winter. It was sheer adventure to watch these animals blow and dive in unison! After dinner members of the Alaska Whale Foundation discussed the social feeding behavior of these big whales.
