Tuesday June 11 was yet another sunny day...what can we say? Don and I had a leisurely morning as we were scheduled to take the 2 hour skiff ride at 11:00 a.m.. And what a treat. The fog had lifted and our tour out to the rocks just inside one of the many passages within the inside passage was covered with Stellar sea lions. Many of these bulls weight up to 2,000 lbs. They would slide into the water and come over to our skiff to see what was happening. However, after they satisfied their curiosity, it was more difficult for them to haul their massive body weight up and out of the water. After making 6 passes of the island where they played and barked, we took a detour around another island we were greeted by many sea otters. But the most spectacular part of the day was sitting & drifting in our skiff and taking photos 10 inches above the water level, of many humpback whales as they spouted, surfaced, dove and slapped the water with giant fins. We soon got into the rhythm and could tell when a whale was about to do a “tail up” and dive...to be gone for a short while. But we weren't disappointed because there were several other whales doing the same thing!!! Don was sitting on the back left end of the zodiak and he nearly fell off the boat when he was startled by a “whale blow” and a "hump back" dive...about 12 feet behind him!!! I saw it all coming, but it was too fast to warn him. Our guide kept pointing out that 6 bald eagles were flying overhead with many other birds. Everyone ignored them in favor of whale watching. Absolutely thrilling!!!
Out next adventure (after lunch) was another skiff ride around another small island where we enjoyed watching many birds as well as stunning scenery. We were treated to a visual feast, as we watched a “raft” of sea otters play and dive. The ribbon kelp created beautiful patterns in the water as we headed back to the ship and the captain headed for Inian Islands where we would spend the night. I loved that we did lots of traveling during daylight hours and also played a lot during those same hours. This way we got to see lots of the passage at different times. The light was mostly overhead all the time, but it didn't stop anyone from taking pictures. I often took between 75-125 stills a day with lots of video footage. I'll leave that editing when we have a more leisurely pace as we tour the Northwest after leaving Alaska!!! Don's laughing as I read him this last comment!!!
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Here is where we played today
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| Now that's what you call "fog rolling in" |
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| When I looked the other direction this is what I saw. |
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| One quick photo before we get ready for the skiff ride. |
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| Those are mountain peaks...not clouds. |
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| Stellar Sea Lions |
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This one pointed peak was not run over and rounded by
glacial activity...hence the point while
all others are rounded!!!! |
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No that's not a whale - all my whale shots are on video
as it's pretty hard to capture them on a still. |
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Not a bird rising, someone else's close-up of a
Humpback Tail. |
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