Monday
7:30Breakfast never arrived in our room & we discovered there is a breakfast buffet.
This morning - seven different kinds of Eggs Benedict... yes, please!
Out for an early stroll as we close in on Ketchikan.
His & hers, perhaps?
Ferry from the airfield.
Dockside.
Some shopping & sampling of salmon...
our next excursion is to the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary,
at the edge of the Tongass National Forest at Herring Cove.
And there is evidence of bears...
God did not disappoint!
Here's momma...
And the twins having a wrestle...
Just next door is a salmon fishery!
There are a lot of conservation measures in place to ensure the salmon population stays robust.
Some of these salmon are returning to the fishery where they were spawned.
The color on this one indicates it has already spawned & is dying.
With others, instinct prevails & they want to keep going upstream.
The gulls are happy to take advantage of the situation.
And so are the bears...
Like this elusive fellow.
And of course there are other creatures worth seeing.
Can you find the 3 sandpipers in this photo?
A young bald eagle.
A magpie - these are so beautiful
Historic sawmill.
Raptor Center.
All of these birds were rescues & cannot live free.
They are kept in an aviary where, if able, they can fly.
Red-tailed hawk
Falcon
Can't remember, but this may be Snowy Owl with summer plumage
This bald eagle has a genetic anomaly that causes his beak to grow
like a scissor, which makes it impossible for him to eat.
They are able to file it down so it is functional.
Tonight we see the magician's show.
Tomorrow is our last day :(
We will spend it cruising the Inland Passage on our way to Vancouver.
Wonderful photos of the wildlife, especially the bear and her cubs. I'm curious about the cruise portion of your trip (as someone prone to motion sickness) - how was it? Was it rocky or smooth or perhaps both?
ReplyDeleteIt was very smooth most of the time. At night they would pick up speed. I'm told to choose a cabin closer to the front than the rear to minimize that. One night the captain announced that we were expecting heavy seas overnight but we weren't disturbed by it. I know some of our group had planned to take seasick meds during the entire cruise just as a precaution. Most of this trip was not in the open ocean so perhaps that helped. I know the ships have stabilizers to try to minimize feeling the motion. I took a video of what it looked like out our window - I will put that up on Flickr & you can see how it makes you feel!
DeleteA great set of photos and the comments here are interesting - it would be a fear of mine too but I can imagine that being on the Inland Passage would make a difference. But really, worth it for these amazing experiences!
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