Posts Tagged ‘Inian’
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Location: Inian Islands, Icy Strait, southeast Alaska
The Inian Islands are loaded with sea otters. Local residents in nearby Elfin Cove tell me that sea otters were re-introduced to this area in the mid 1980′s with animals transplanted from other areas. The original population was of course wiped out by hunters and fur traders in the late 18th century because of the immense popularity and value of sea otter pelts. I’m told that sea otter fur contains over 1,000,000 hairs per square inch which is how they remain insulated and able to live in cold water. There is no doubt that sea otter fur is amazingly soft and plush. The difficulty is that while sea otters appear super cute and cuddly, they are in fact rapacious predators who hunt and destroy and wipe out other animals in their environment. Just ask any aquarist or zoo keeper for their opinion of sea otters!! For example, those same residents in Elfin Cove tell me that the abalone and clams have been all but wiped in this area as the sea otter population became re-established. We often see them floating very cutely on their backs and swimming along with the occasional flick of one foot as they much down on various foods placed and held on their tummies ie. sea urchin, small fish, chunks of salmon, octopus and even basket stars.. Today took the cake though (please pardon the bad pun). We were on our way back from diving Inian Wall when we noticed a sea otter swimming along, taking big bites of an orangey-red mass. What the heck!! It was really hard to see what it was eating and of course we didn’t want to get too close and (a) cause the animal any distress and (b) violate the marine mammal watching guidelines. The little guy finally dropped a chunk in the water and we idled over to see what it was. Hard to believe but the sea otter was eating a gorgonian coral fan!!! Not sure what the nutritional value is of gorgonian coral but this particular sea otter certainly seemed to be enjoying it!! I’m hoping it was a special treat and that the large fields of beautiful gorgonian coral that we see while scuba diving are not under threat. Cheers. Captain Mike.
Weather: Mix of low cloud and fogbanks with beautiful blue skies and sunshine in the middle of the day. Temperature high 60′s. Calm seas. Calm winds..
Water: Water temperature 46 degrees. Very low visibility of 10 feet on Inian Wall (but lots of sealions) and 15 – 20 feet on Wall of Life
Tags: Alaska, Icy Strait, Inian, Nautilus Explorer, sea otter
Posted in Alaska, Captains Log, Destinations, gorgonian coral, Icy Strait, Inian Islands, octopus, sea urchins, sea otters | No Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Location: Inian Islands, Icy Strait, southeast Alaska
Fire at sea but no, it definitely wasn’t on the Nautilus Explorer!! Dive day #1 of our last Alaska trip of the season saw us at anchor in the Inian Islands - one of our favourite sites in southeast Alaska. Sure, the scuba diving is fantastic here but the richness of life topside is equally impressive with loads of humpback whales, stellar sealions, bald eagles, sea otters and fishboats on fire. Yup, we had just wrapped our last dive of the day when we spotted a 40 foot salmon troller drifting through south Inian pass with heavy plumes of smoke billowing out of the windows, the smokestack and all the vents. CRAP!! You could barely see the fishboat for the smoke. We grabbed our fire fighting gear (as a SOLAS passenger ship, the Nautilus Explorer is fully equipped with turn-out gear, SCBA’s, emergency breathing apparatus, etc.), jumped into dive skiff Inde and tore over there at 45 knots (80 kmh). Luckily we were able to contain the fire, tow the fishboat into nearby Elfin Cove and then re-enter the ship with shoreside fire hoses and extinguish the engine room fire. To be honest, it was pretty neat (athough hot and sweaty as heck) to be in full gear, crawling through the smoke in someone else’s ship and putting a fire out. Just like the old days at the fire training academy!! The owner had a full load of beautiful spring/king salmon onboard but I didn’t have the heart to ask him if he was going to be able to sell the load as “smoked salmon”. Poor guy didn’t have insurance and we felt very badly for him and tried to minimize fire fighting damage. We’ll see what tomorrow holds!!!! Captain Mike
Weather: Foggy and misty in the morning but clear in the afternoon with gorgeous blue skies. Calm winds and seas with a low swell from the west.
Water: Water temperature 46F, 10 foot visibility on the warmup dive, 20 foot plus on the second dive (Wall of Life).
Tags: Alaska, Humpback Whale, humpback whales, Inian, Nautilus Explorer, sea otter, stellar sea lion
Posted in Alaska, Animals, Captains Log, Destinations, Eagle, Humpback Whale, Inian Islands, sea otter, stellar sea lion, whales | No Comments »
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
Jim – My highlight was the Transpac dive followed closely by the jelly fish dive and a close third was the Salmon snorkel – The amazing food fits in there somewhere too!
Steve – There wasn’t a highlight for me – the whole weeks was full of surprises – however if I had to choose, Inian passage with the eagles, otters, whales, the incredible view, and the diving topped the list.
Lynn – We ran out of IPA – how can I choose a highlight? Maybe the highlight will be tonight experimenting with new drinks.
Janet – Just reading and relaxing and while Lynn was underwater, the Peace and Quiet! My second time as a non-diver, I am convinced that The Nautilus Explorer is as good for non-divers as it is for divers.
Scott – My highlight just happened today – the last day – The Princess Kathleen was, by far, one of the best wrecks I have ever dived on. Warm water and cold water considered.
Linda – The glaciers were my highlight – maybe the whales actually – ahhhh it was all wonderful. And I have never been on a boat that pays so much attention to non-divers. They didn’t just have lots to do for us but we (the non-divers) felt important and as much a priority to the crew as the divers.
Tom – The Smudges – There are only a few places in the world you can see jellyfish like that. I always wanted to do Palau but now I don’t need to. I have seen humpbacks, sharks, mantas and eels all over the world but this was completely unigue and one of the highlights, not just of the charter, but of my diving career.
Tags: Alaska, Eagle, humpback whales, Inian, Nautilus Explorer, salmon snorkel, sea otter
Posted in Alaska, Animals, Destinations, Eagle, Eels, Giant Mantas, Guest Blog, Humpback Whale, Inian Islands, moon jellies, Nautilus Explorer, sea otter, shark, whales | No Comments »
Friday, August 7th, 2009
I loved the humpback whales. We saw 2 stellar sealions playing with a humpback whale. And I liked the shopping onboard today. Anne had an encounter with a stellar sealion of the 3rd kind. Roxanne
Second dive today was great conditions, great visiblity, very little current – a little chilly – but lots to see. Great zodiac tour today. Saw 5 humpback whales that hung around with us for 15 minutes. And the best part of the day was kayaking with my bride of 23 years. Dan
Ehhh. Richard (note from Captain Mike - he is english)..
Today was very good. The stellar sealions really like the camera domeports. Monte
I survived getting mouthed by a stellar sealion. And then getting slapped in the back of my head. And then I got slapped in the front but managed to hold on to my mask and regulator. The best part of my day was seeing sea lion rock FROM A DISTANCE in the zodiac. Anne
Topside photography was as good or even better than underwater. I saw stellars, whales, seaotters, bald eagles, baby cormorants, puffins.. Scott..
Saw lots of decorator crabs on the second dive (Wall of Life) and it was much more relaxing than the current on the first dive (Inian Wall). Captain Mike twisted my arm to go but I’m glad he did. Carl
I loved seeing the humpback whales from the inflatable today. Janet
I enjoyed filming the stellar sealion who was all over Marty’s camera. I haven’t seen a sealion mouth a camera like that before. Lynn
I like the food. Kannen
Inian Islands are my favourite of all the islands in southeast Alaska. Ed.
I’m the glad the stellar sealions behaved today (for once) and I got out with fewer puncture wounds to my hood than last time (I think she is joking but not sure – Captain Mike). Mary
Tags: Alaska, bald eagle, humpback whales, Inian, Nautilus Explorer, puffin, sea lions, sea otter
Posted in Alaska, Animals, cormorant, crab, Destinations, Eagle, Guest Blog, Humpback Whale, Inian Islands, puffin, sea otter, sealions | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
Location: Inian Islands, Icy Strait, southeast Alaska.
Let’s see. Puffins. Transient orcas (killer whales). Humpback whales. Stellar sealions. Sea-otters. Bald eagles. Oyster catchers. Nesting cormorants with baby chicks. Recently discovered and still unnamed soft coral consisting of 50% of the biomass at some dive sites. This is an amazing place. And my description above doesn’t begin to do it justice. How do you describe guests getting so comfortable with humpback whales feeding right outside the dining room windows while the Nautilus Explorer is at anchor that they don’t pay a lot of attention any more??? Or having a transient orca swim 20 feet past the stern while we are at anchor - with the big killer whale headed straight to a nearby stellar sealion colony for breakfast. The scuba diving is breathtaking although I must be honest and report that the visibility can be variable. We were dogged with poor visibility last trip with 10 – 20 feet on most dives on the last three days of scuba diving which I suspect was caused by the heat wave that last 2 weeks. Boy has that ever changed a couple of days later and we are now back to crisp “blue-black” water with 40 – 50 feet vis. It’s all good!! Captain Mike
Weather: Overcast with sunny breaks. Air temperature mid 50′s. 10 KT winds. Low west swell but calm in our anchorage.
Water: Water temperature 46 degrees. Visibility 40 – 50 feet.
Tags: Alaska, humpback whales, Inian, Nautilus Explorer, Orca, puffin, sea lions, sea otters
Posted in Alaska, Animals, Captains Log, cormorant, Destinations, Eagle, Humpback Whale, Icy Strait, Inian Islands, Orca, puffin, sea otter, sealions, whales | No Comments »
Saturday, August 16th, 2008
Location: Steveston, Vancouver, British Columbia
Have to admit that I ended up a little behind with my Captain’s log entries. Especially once Charlie and Emily, my amazing 5 and 8 year old kids, joined me for a couple of weeks onboard. Seeing British Columbia and Alaska through their eyes is very refreshing and entertaining. They loved the orcas and humpbacks, loved climbing up on the bow of the Nautilus Explorer and touching an iceberg, loved hiking through the woods and sitting in 107 degree natural hotsprings. They came out in the dive skiff with me on every single dive. They were fascinated by the ever inquisitive stellar sealions and were disappointed that they couldn’t go scuba diving with them. In fact both kids were making lots of noise about wanting their own drysuits for next year. My favourite memory though is taking them kayaking through the Le Conte icefield and around the icebergs - I was exceptionally proud of Emily who “went solo” for the first time in a kayak (and what a place to do it!!) and while Charlie was in a double kayak with me, he was very clearly “the Captain” and in charge and darn near ready to go solo himself. They both drove a pretty mean inflatable at Inian Cove as well although their dockings need a bit of work. Amazing memories. And food for thought for me regarding possibly offering an extra “family” trip in Alaska each season. Well, that’s it for Alaska and British Columbia for this year. We are back in our seldom visited homeport of Steveston, British Columbia for a 22 hour turnaround before departing southbound for Mexico and the start of Guadalupe Island great white shark season. Sad to say goodbye to our northern nudibranchs, giant pacific octopus, wolfeels and all the other critters up north but time to say HELLO to big honking white sharks up to 18 feet long. More to follow. Captain Mike
Weather: Sunny, hot, calm and beautiful sunny day.
Water: Water temperatures and visiblity unknown.
Tags: Alaska, British Columbia, Browning Wall Pass, calving glaciers, cold water scuba, coral invertebrate life, Dillon Rock, diving, giant pacific octopus, humpback whales, icebergs, Inian, Juneau, Ketchikan, Le Conte, nudibranchs, orcas, point Adoluphus, Port Hardy, sealions, Shushartie Bay, Sitka, Tracey Arm, Transpac, Vancouver, wolfeel, Wooden Island
Posted in Alaska, Animals, British Columbia, Captains Log, Destinations, Guadalupe Island, Gulf of Alaska, Humpback Whale, Inian Islands, Nautilus Explorer, Nudibranch, Orca, shark, Steveston, Vancouver Island | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Location: Wreck of the Transpac, Butedale, central coast of British Columbia
We missed a Kermode bear on the beach at Butedale by 5 minutes this morning. Darn!!!!! Lou, the caretaker of the abandoned ghost town and cannery at Butedale came up on the VHF radio as we were approaching to let me know that there had been a kermode bear on the beach all morning.. Yippee. The densest population of Kermode bears
- which are a black bear that is white, not albino but white fur with a black nose and paws – is found on Princess Royal Island which is where Butedale is located. All hands rushed to the foredeck in great excitement and……the bear disappeared into the bush just as we approached. Sighhh. It’s funny that we are quite rightly concerned about the danger of encountering bears in the bush and yet these animals are so easily spooked. On arriving at Butedale, we were surprised to see a fleet of BC Forest Service boats anchored out in the bay. Turns out that they are concerned that the pilings and structure of the cannery buildings that were abandoned 30 years ago might be on government land instead of privately owned land. I will reserve comment on this expenditure of government resources although I understand from Lou that they had a very nice hike up to the lake and so on. Our morning dive on the wreck of the Transpac was outstanding as usual with visibility estimated at 80 feet or more. The Transpac is without a doubt the most amazing wreck I have ever seen - standing upright as it does with the transom of the 180 foot fishboat plunked down on a ledge at 285 feet with the bow at 110 feet and the wreck aligned almost perfectly upright on the sheer wall. Did a dock dive in the afternoon and those divers who stayed under the pilings had a fabulous dive with giant pacific octopus sightings as well as 20 plus ratfish (aka chimera). We’re off to Shushartie Bay (Dillon Rock) and Browning Wall tonight and then in to Vancouver to finish off this very fine trip. Captain Mike
Weather: High scattered clouds, 10 knot winds from the south, smooth seas, air temperatures in the 70°’s.
Water: Visibility 80 feet plus on the Transpac. Water temperature 48°
Tags: Alaska, British Columbia, Browning Wall Pass, calving glaciers, cold water scuba, coral invertebrate life, Dillon Rock, diving, giant pacific octopus, humpback whales, icebergs, Inian, Juneau, Ketchikan, Le Conte, nudibranchs, orcas, point Adoluphus, Port Hardy, sealions, Shushartie Bay, Sitka, Tracey Arm, Transpac, Vancouver, wolfeel, Wooden Island
Posted in Animals, British Columbia, Captains Log, Destinations, Kermode Bear, Nautilus Explorer | No Comments »
Monday, July 21st, 2008
Location: Le Conte glacier, southeast Alaska
This has been our most interesting year ever for icebergs at Le Conte inlet in Alaska. The sheer size and number of icebergs that we encountered at the beginning of the season was unlike anything I have ever seen before. Some of the bergs were easily 4 – 5 times as long as the Nautilus Explorer and towered above us. The icepack was so thick on the first couple of trips that I wasn’t able get past the “last bend” and get anywhere as near the glacier face as I would have liked (and anybody who has been on an Alaska trip with me knows how tenacious and patient I am in working my way through the icefields!). Well, today there were a lot fewer icebergs than we had previously seen and I was finally able to position the Nautilus right up close to massive Le Conte Glacier. This icefield is just enormous and easily towers 500 feet above the water. The rule of thumb that charter boat Captains use is that it is safe to approach within 2 cables (400 yards) of the glacier. I can tell you that it is really something to be parked 400 yards from the glacier, listening to it snapping, crackling and groaning and wondering what is going to happen next. So what happened next???? Not much. It was pretty quiet which is likely why there was so little ice in the water. We watched and waited and after an hour or so everyone went inside for lunch. I wandered over to the other side of the wheelhouse when I heard this enormous BANG CRACK BOOM and holy s%#t all I could see was an enormous splash of water and a series of very steep 10 foot high waves coming straight at us as we were beam to. I jammed the engines in gear, goosed the throttles and got the Nautilus partially turned around when we got smacked really hard by the first wall of water. What a sight. I would be less than honest if I didn’t say that my hands were more than a shade wobbly and shakey!!!! Most amazing of all, Karen Straus – one of our guests and a professional photographer - had a funny feeling that was something was going to happen. She left lunch, set up her hi definition video camera on a tripod on the hot tub deck, focussed on the glacier face which then let go 15 seconds after she hit “record”. Karen captured the whole thing on hi def video and it is truly an incredible sequence. My thought is that I might hold off by 3 cables (600 yards) next time!! Captain Mike
click here to see our Alaska 2008 video
Water: Water visibility and temperature unknown.
Weather: High overcast, rain showers, calm winds, temperatures high 50′s.
Tags: Alaska, British Columbia, Browning Wall Pass, calving glaciers, cold water scuba, coral invertebrate life, Dillon Rock, diving, giant pacific octopus, humpback whales, icebergs, Inian, Juneau, Ketchikan, Le Conte, nudibranchs, orcas, point Adoluphus, Port Hardy, sealions, Shushartie Bay, Sitka, Tracey Arm, Transpac, Vancouver, wolfeel, Wooden Island
Posted in Alaska, Captains Log, Destinations, Gulf of Alaska | No Comments »
Sunday, July 20th, 2008
Location: Secret Bay, Chicagoff Island, southeast Alaska
Why is he a darned grizzly bear?? Because he chose to amble across the beach 150 yards away from the Nautilus Explorer in the middle of my morning briefing. Cheeezzzz, how am I supposed to do a briefing when all the guests are running for their cameras and binoculars.. Anchored up in beautiful and scenic Secret Bay today. I hesitate to publish the topographic name of this bay because (a) it is so beautiful (b) we have had really good luck with grizzly bears here (c) there is an amazing grotto of marble accessible up the stream (d) when the salmon return to this stream, it is a great place to snorkel with them and (e) we have a permit with the good graces of the U.S. Forest Service that allows our guests stroll, walk and hike through the rainforest here. My only mistake in briefing our guests was in referring to this as “rain forest” because it was indeed raining. Really raining!! More like a deluge actually. We split into 2 groups - hikers and snorkellers – and things didn’t go quite according to plan. We had an extremely low tide this morning ( – 1.3 feet on a 23 foot exchange) which made it impossible to take guests up to the marble grotto by inflatable. Everybody had to go overland instead. The very heavy rain and extreme low tide made for a very fast flowing stream and less than ideal conditions for snorkelling. The really awesome thing about the guests on this trip is that everyone was a really good sport about the “challenges” and were laughing and smiling and making jokes afterwards about what a great time they had. We’re off to dive Baranoff Island this afternoon and then on to the natural hot-springs tonight. Cheers from Alaska. Captain Mike
Weather: Heavy rain, overcast, calm winds and seas, air temperatures in the low 50′s. Very unseasonable weather for July.
Water: Water temperature and visibility unknown.
Tags: Alaska, British Columbia, Browning Wall Pass, calving glaciers, cold water scuba, coral invertebrate life, Dillon Rock, diving, giant pacific octopus, humpback whales, icebergs, Inian, Juneau, Ketchikan, Le Conte, nudibranchs, orcas, point Adoluphus, Port Hardy, sealions, Shushartie Bay, Sitka, Tracey Arm, Transpac, Vancouver, wolfeel, Wooden Island
Posted in Alaska, Animals, Captains Log, Destinations, Grizzly bear, Nautilus Explorer | No Comments »
Saturday, July 19th, 2008
Location: Inian Island, Elfin Cove, Icy Strait, southeast Alaska.
I always try to maintain the best of taste in my Captain Log entries. No cussing. No inappropriate remarks. Nothing that might cause offence. So why then am I talking about duck farts?? Well, it turns out that the drink called duck farts is a well known alcoholic beverage among local residents in southeast Alaska. You can get them in Juneau, you can get them in Sitka, you can get them in Ketchikan and you can get them in Elfin Cove. After a great day of scuba diving, inflatable tours, zodiac kayaking (kayaking with a comfort boat ie. zodiac, tagging along behind with beverages, refreshments and an easy way to get home if you get tired of paddling) and whale watching around Inian Island, we took everybody ashore after dinner for a “look-around” the tiny boardwalk community of Elfin Cove. Our guests somehow got waylaid at the Coho Bar and Grill and bartender introduced them to “duck farts”. The Nautilus Explorer was anchored outside the Cove and during the various inflatable shuttles back to the boat it seemed that all we heard from our guests was “we want more duck farts”, “I’d like a duck fart waiting for me please”, “do you know how to make duck farts” and so on. I suppose that reporting this isn’t really in the best of taste but it was pretty funny at the time. Incidentally, duck farts is a shot glass of layered Kahlua, Baileys and Crown Royal. The layering is accomplished by carefully pouring the alcohol into the shot glass over a spoon help upside-down. The end result really is quite pretty. I have absolutely no idea what the linkage is though to a “duck fart”!!!! Captain Mike
Weather: Heavy rain, overcast, windy until mid-afternoon and then calm, 6 foot seas outside but calm in our anchorage, air temperatures in the mid 50′s.
Water: Visibility 20 feet, water temperature 45 – 46 degrees
Tags: Alaska, British Columbia, Browning Wall Pass, calving glaciers, cold water scuba, coral invertebrate life, Dillon Rock, diving, giant pacific octopus, humpback whales, icebergs, Inian, Juneau, Ketchikan, Le Conte, nudibranchs, orcas, point Adoluphus, Port Hardy, sealions, Shushartie Bay, Sitka, Tracey Arm, Transpac, Vancouver, wolfeel, Wooden Island
Posted in Alaska, Captains Log, Destinations, Inian Islands, Nautilus Explorer | No Comments »
