Sea otter enjoying lunch
We’ve become used to seeing a lot of wildlife this trip, and we expected that we’d see more as we moved north. But even by that standard, we’ve been wowed.
Today was a perfect example. As we headed north up Muir Inlet towards the less popular side of the park, we saw a small ice chunk that had been repurposed into a haulout by a couple of sea otters.
Steller sea lions hauling out – fighting for space will ensue
Seeing this, we decided to drift for a bit to watch them. In a matter of 20 minutes, we saw a pack of 6-8 Steller sea lions swim by, followed by a pod of harbor porpoises, followed by 3 to 4 humpback whales sounding in sequence, followed by a flock of puffins. This culminated with a raft of what seemed like 200 sea otters – floating on their back, paws linked to stay together, calling out to one another (what is the word for the sound that a sea otter makes?) – and was topped off by the fact that some of the otters carried their babies supported on their bellies.
Whale back…
…followed by whale tail
If Disney built a theme park for marine wildlife viewing, this place would undoubtedly be the model.
Tufted Puffins
Gulls taking a break on a bergie bit
