Kelp Bay
Enveloped in the hydrating mist of morning, we plunged into the activities of our final full day in Southeast Alaska. In the southern arm of Kelp Bay, a carpet of wildflowers was laid out before us. We skirted its edges, wading through the green shaggy meadows described by John Muir. Admiring the sedges, ferns and the bear. Oops, a bear. A brown bear was spending its morning munching on sedges and cow parsnip. It stood up to see the colorful raincoat-clad line of hikers. We too stood tall to get a look at the bear. Apparently we were not as interesting as its morning meal. With a fresh dose of adrenaline, we continued our walk. The bear continued to munch, and eventually it ambled to the forest edge and disappeared into the dappled shadows.
Our week has been filled with a multitude of new experiences, sights, sounds, tastes and smells. Being downwind from a Steller sea lion colony is hard to forget. Fortunately, the smell does not stick to the picture. The image of bubblenet feeding humpback whales and the sound of their woo, woo, wooing before popping from the watery depths is a rare and awesome sight to experience. Today on our scavenger hunt list, we were to find a “wondrous moment.” Inquiring this afternoon as to what was the wondrous moment for the day, a reply came back that they could not pick just one. That seems like the perfect problem to be presented.
And now, writings from some of our guests:
We are on a ship called “The Sea Bird”
Each morning was Sue’s voice that we heard
Linda’s explaining
Kept the kids from complaining
Adventure and fun was assured.
- Ulfelder, Smith, Covo, Schmidt and Waddell
A whale that is 3 months deceased
Might make a fine ravenly feast,
But I for my part
Would much rather start
With a recenter decenter beast.
- Mary McLean
There once were a group of humpback whales
They made a lot of noise with their tails
They called to each other
Their sisters and brother
They trapped their fish in bubblenet jails.
- Lana Alber, Leah Levine, Anne Kenney
There once was a whale from Alaska
Who decided to go to Nebraska
He wiggled and blew
And suddenly knew
That travelling by land was disasta!
- Irwin Alber, Thomas, Michael and Zachary Kenney
