As an early morning greeting, we awoke today to see three humpback whales that had gathered close to the bow of the Sea Bird. At 7:30 AM, before parting, they began a remarkable disaffiliation ceremony as if to bid us farewell, with full-body breaches, pectoral flipper slapping, and tail-lobbing. After breakfast we paused by Flat Island, close to Point Adolphus, and watched tufted puffins, common murres and even had a few sightings of scarce ancient auklets. Beyond these we found several large rafts of male sea otters, and before lunch were treated to a brief appearance of a pod of three Dall's porpoises.
The afternoon took us to Elfin Cove, a small community navigable only by boardwalk, where we talked with the salmon fishermen and store owners. Mary-Jo Lord gave us a fascinating insight into her life in this remote and isolated fishing town, which has only fifty full-time residents. From here, we ventured to George Island, a naval defense point in WWII, and hiked the spruce-hemlock forest and rocky beaches. Lectures in Alaskan geology and the history of Russian settlement in Alaska, and observations of trawled plankton, were interspersed through another beautiful day as we moved back towards Chatham Strait at dusk.
