As soon as the captain of the boat started to tell about the birds I was frantically diving into my bird book to match the birds with what I was seeing. Renita was alternating between her binoculars and camera and I was also trying to take images. Tufted puffins, common murre, horned puffins and plelagic comorants were the first four new birds. Soon we added a glaucous gull, a black-legged kittiwake, and a pigeon guillemot. It was a great day and on another shore we saw a black oystercatcher.
Its not often that we get to add seven new birds to our life list,(302 since we went fulltime), and so the days cruise was already a success. Next on the agenda were the sea otters and it was amazing to see rafts of the large mammals floating and playing. Mothers had their pups on their stomachs as they both floated and rested in the hot afternoon sun,(ok maybe not hot as this is Alaska and it was mid sixties).
The cruise continued through islands and bays before reaching the town of Seldovia, which basically translates from the Russian as Herring Bay. Of course we had to walk the beaches for sea glass and Renita even found a piece. I had to be content with some fossilized algae and I do hope it will look good when cut and polished.
The town was virtually destroyed by the 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake, and never fully recovered. Now it holds a yearly wood carving contest and so we snapped image after image of the carvings that decorate most business's.
We passed the rowing club office and the boat yeard and I thought how our friend Alan would love to see all the boats, but I am sure he has enough images from his and Sharon's trip to Oregon. It was a weekday and there were few tourists around so I wondered how sad the business must be. I bought some fudge and an ice cream cone to help the economy.
Returning to the ship, Discovery, we headed back looking for the elusive whales but it was not to be. Settling for the occasional sea otters we both noticed jumping salmon and more sea birds. The tide had come in while we were cruising and it was a much easier walk up from the dock.
We both agreed it had been a great day of discovery, even without the whales. New and strange birds, sea otters, and the bay town of Seldovia. Clear skies
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