A rolling fog greeted us this morning with occasional glimpses of mountainous Chichigof Island to our port and the sprinkling of small islands to our starboard side. We are heading through South Inian Pass on our way to explore a favorite haunt of Steller sea lions. A handful of small, steep, mostly rocky islands receive the full onslaught of Southeast Alaska’s massive tidal currents, which bring a bounty of fish migrating to natal streams after growing to adulthood in the Gulf of Alaska. Salmon will often travel the entire gyre all the way from Southeast Alaska, south and then west towards Russia before racing back to their spawning rivers in Southeast Alaska. These packets of energy, fueled by the complex food web of the open ocean, are the lifeblood of the temperate rain forest and a vital resource for the Steller sea lions of the Inian Islands. Yet, this morning the sea lions took a brief, but important, backseat to a gorgeous humpback whale. This particular whale had two white streaks running from each side of its chin all the way to the belly button. You can ask anyone, because we all saw it. Repeatedly. Using a massive tail fluke and muscles toned over thousands of miles of annual migrations, this humpback whale breached several times, much to the excitement of guests on our small boats and from the ship.
While guests were watching Steller sea lions hunt fish and cavort with one another, I went diving under the kelp forests of South Inian Pass. With the tide reaching the end of the ebb, the visibility was not amazing, but the wildlife did not disappoint. Although very gregarious and often curious about boats, underwater I find Steller sea lions to be quite timid, especially when alone. This afternoon we had a single young male come by, but after two quick flips, he was gone, off to the next fishing hole. We had hoped for a gang of rambunctious sea lions, but were happy with a massive school of dusky rockfish instead. Riding the tidal current along a large wall, we spotted hundreds of gorgonians, a coral relative, along with basket stars perched atop and reaching into the currents for drifting food. Although they’re not as charismatic as the roaring sea lions, the basket stars are just as fascinating and equally as dependent on Cross Sound’s strong currents.
