Alaska with the Family, Day 3: Keku Islands, Halleck Harbor, and Red Bluff Bay

 

Day three of this incredible Alaska expedition trip brought us to one of my favorite locations, a body of water called Frederick Sound. This is a confluence zone where four different straits meet. The straights dump nutrients into the sound, and the current mix them up, creating a perfect area for the ocean web of life to flourish. Phytoplankton bloom, zooplankton soon follow, and then larger fish and whales move in to enjoy the feast.

We made two stops today on the southern edge of the sound; a series of islands called the Keku Islands, and then Halleck Harbor. We purposefully arrived at the Keku Island during an extreme low tide. The full moon creates massive tides here in Alaska. You can have a tidal swing of 25 feet. I knew from my past visits that the Keku Islands are filled with incredible intertidal life, so coming at low tide would uncover a vast amount of sea life.

I talked up the tidepooling so much that everyone chose to head to the beach to see what kind of intertidal treasures we could find. The kids especially, had a wonderful time flipping over rocks and uncovering treasure after treasure. Seeing them hold sunflower stars with twenty moving arms, and scoop up crescent gunnels living with just a tiny puddle of water, and spiky sea urchins was a real treat for all of us parents. I feel like the kids and the adults could have stayed on those shorelines all day, but as the tide quickly started to come in, it reminded us we had more adventures in the afternoon to get to.... and lunch!

We saw a few sea otters as we cruised into our anchorage at Halleck Harbor. Part of the group jumped in kayaks and paddled out to get a closer look at the otters. I boarded a small boat that we called the skiff, and headed out with the family to cover a bit more distance. We stopped for a few sea otter encounters on our way, much to the delight of the kids, who had never seen these charismatic animals. Then we were treated to a couple of nice encounters with humpback whales. I snagged a few photos of the whales diving down with their tails up and the beautiful Alaskan scenery in the background.

After an afternoon of fun at Halleck Harbor, we lifted the anchor and cruised west across Frederick Sound. Conditions stayed nice for an after-dinner scenic cruise into Red Bluff Bay. This is a majestic, glacier-carved fjord. The entrance to the narrow bay is hidden behind a mound of chromite and unusual ultra-mafic rock which creates a tree-less mound of red rock.

After squeezing the boat through an extremely narrow spot, the fjord opens up in dramatic fashion. A few false-corners brought us further and further in, until the grand finale at the back, a huge waterfall gushing down the cliffside. Captain Andy poked the nose of the Legacy close in to the waterfall which gave us an opportunity for some pretty amazing photos. And if that wasn't enough, we even spied a far off brown bear, moving its way through the back bay.

Not a bad day here in Southeast Alaska.

-Dai Mar