Bay of Pillars & Chatham Strait
Tides become more extreme at both the full moon and the new moon, so, twice each month, Southeast Alaskan coastlines experience "spring" tides. Today was one of those extreme tide days, and a beautiful opportunity to investigate the intertidal zone exposed by the minus 1.3 foot tide in Bay of Pillars, on Kuiu Island. Intrepid early risers set out at 7:00 a.m. for a pre-breakfast Zodiac cruise, later, a more civilized cruise went out after breakfast. Both rounds were treated to an abundance of life. We saw countless species of colorful marine invertebrates clinging to the exposed rocks; including sunflower stars, orange sea cucumbers, plumose anemones, kelp crabs, gumboot chitons, predatory whelks and an especially exciting orange-peel nudibranch. Keen eyes spotted furry brown minks loping along the beach, foraging on the seafood buffet set out before them. There were Sitka black-tail deer tip-toeing through the beach meadows, and a beautifully healthy looking mother black bear with her three (!) cubs.
After returning to the ship to don knee boots and collect hiking gear, we ventured back out into the wilds for some exploratory walks. This ancient forest holds many secrets, and divulged a few to us today. Some read the story of a wolf's feeding place, overlooking a meadow and surrounded by coralroot orchids. Others discovered colorful wildflowers in a grassy meadow, or the springy touch of boot on mossy forest floor; all while a thick spruce and hemlock canopy shielded us from the late morning rain.
We spent the afternoon cruising northward in Chatham Strait, catching brief looks at a group of three transient killer whales, a couple of humpback whales and a very exciting close-up look at an ancient murrelet! After dinner we emerged on deck to view the beautiful scenery in Kelp Bay, then spent the waning daylight hours in the company of more humpback whales.
Tides become more extreme at both the full moon and the new moon, so, twice each month, Southeast Alaskan coastlines experience "spring" tides. Today was one of those extreme tide days, and a beautiful opportunity to investigate the intertidal zone exposed by the minus 1.3 foot tide in Bay of Pillars, on Kuiu Island. Intrepid early risers set out at 7:00 a.m. for a pre-breakfast Zodiac cruise, later, a more civilized cruise went out after breakfast. Both rounds were treated to an abundance of life. We saw countless species of colorful marine invertebrates clinging to the exposed rocks; including sunflower stars, orange sea cucumbers, plumose anemones, kelp crabs, gumboot chitons, predatory whelks and an especially exciting orange-peel nudibranch. Keen eyes spotted furry brown minks loping along the beach, foraging on the seafood buffet set out before them. There were Sitka black-tail deer tip-toeing through the beach meadows, and a beautifully healthy looking mother black bear with her three (!) cubs.
After returning to the ship to don knee boots and collect hiking gear, we ventured back out into the wilds for some exploratory walks. This ancient forest holds many secrets, and divulged a few to us today. Some read the story of a wolf's feeding place, overlooking a meadow and surrounded by coralroot orchids. Others discovered colorful wildflowers in a grassy meadow, or the springy touch of boot on mossy forest floor; all while a thick spruce and hemlock canopy shielded us from the late morning rain.
We spent the afternoon cruising northward in Chatham Strait, catching brief looks at a group of three transient killer whales, a couple of humpback whales and a very exciting close-up look at an ancient murrelet! After dinner we emerged on deck to view the beautiful scenery in Kelp Bay, then spent the waning daylight hours in the company of more humpback whales.
