Pack Creek and Environs
We came to view the fabled brown bears of Admiralty Island, but as usual, found much more.
Along Seymour Canal, Dall porpoises joyously rode the bow of the Delphinus. Traveling at speeds up to 40 miles per hour, these marine mammals, which are about eight feet long, are almost impossible to photograph. Normally, a polarizer would have cut reflections, but the light was too dim and the seas too rough. Most surface photos showed only the characteristic "rooster tail" splash, not the animal itself.
At Pack Creek, a sea kayak is tied offshore to escape curious brown bears.
Cow parsnip is a common plant of the northland. This specimen was close by the brown bear viewing area at Pack Creek.
A brown bear walks close by the viewing area at Pack Creek.
Poetry in kelp reveals itself at low tide on a reef near Pack Creek.
A sea star about eighteen inches in diameter moves slowly toward the water after being stranded at low tide. Hundreds of tiny feet help the purple critter move along.
Like space aliens in a particularly gruesome (or beautiful?) sci-fi film, these anemones spread several feet across the rocks, wilted and slimy as gravity takes its toll. But underwater, these creatures have an effervescent, fairytale quality.
