Pacific NW

Expeditions

Neptune woke me today. “Pete, bear, quickly!” I jumped onto the deck and we watched the big black bear pick its way along the beach, looking for things to eat in the intertidal zone. Our first bear of the voyage! It’s about time, too. Shortly thereafter a solitary humpback whale chuffed and breached its way by the boat. Nothing quite like waking up to bears and whales in the morning! We cooked up a breakfast of sausage and eggs and steamed out of the inlet. Many ice sheets had broken loose and were drifting by. Luckily none of them carried us away in the night as happened in Shoup Bay. All of Prince William Sound was like a giant mirror again today. On the distant horizons lofty mountaintops appeared to hover in mid-air from the mirage effect and the curvature of the earth. We motored to Naked Island in the middle of the Sound. The island is low and green, and even had 2 houses on it. Its soft features reminded me of the San Juan Islands in Washington. All the leaves were coming out here too! First of the season for us. It is nice to see them. After anchoring in Bass Harbor I went for a long row. The weather was so calm I rowed out a mile into the Sound to a small island off-shore, scoured by the swell that usually pounds it. Many oystercatchers and seals on the seaward side of the island, plus a few sea lions. The seals were very curious about me and followed me everywhere. They swam right up under Modulus and looked at me as they swam by. It is very strange making eye contact with something that is underwater. As I rowed back to the anchorage I was aggressively approached by a sea lion. I don’t mind seeing them from the mothership, but this one was much bigger than me and Modulus combined. He swam up very close, barking and snorting, and I suddenly became very aware of how little freeboard Modulus has. I stood up and shouted at him but he only became more interested. After much vigorous rowing I was clear of the danger and was once again among sea otters and kittiwake gulls.