If it's Sitka, it Must be Sea Otters!

As most cruises go, you travel all night and awake in a new place in the morning.  If it's Sitka, it must be Thursday, August 2nd.  It is.  If it's Sitka, it is probably raining.  It is.  And not the gentle mist of home.  If it's Sitka, we are on another quest: Sea otters!

 I've never photographed or seen Sea otters in the wild.  I have high hopes, this will be my day.  But then...it's the "wild" life rule.  They are wild animals, and have no appointments with us on their schedules.  Not much for schedules either.                                                                                                                

Sitka is a tendering port, so it's off to the Holland America taxis and a short hop to shore.  Our excursion boat awaits and we are away in no time.  The seas outside Sitka are rough with a swell today, so we bounce though that and around the corner to a calmer bay.  We stop for a view of Harbor seals.  They are very small and very far away.  We cruise deeper into the bay though mist and a steady rain.  Did I mention it's cold?  Summer in Sitka.  Hum.  Steve and Don have their cameras in big plastic camera rain coats.  This turns out to be a brilliant idea.  I thought it might be too complex to actually figure out the settings though the camera clothes.  We spend our time up on the top level of the catamaran, under cover, but out in the open.

Then a tiny head cruises by the stern!  Quickly it turns, looks at us, and dives.  Sea otter number one!  Maybe our only one...how do we know?  But.....

Rain jackets all around!

Just smiling in the rain, smiling in the rain...

But no!  Soon we were floating along with a raft of Sea otters beside us.  At least close enough to see with binoculars, and to photograph with a 300mm lens.  Granted, it's a challenge, as the rain continues to fall, sometimes sideways....and the sky is grey and the water dark.  No studio portrait lighting here.  But such cute subjects!

The gang's all here!

Wrapping my arms around...me!

Oh...yawn...nap time!

Heads and Toes

I want to hold your head...!  

Now I lay me down to sleep...

So...I get out the marker to make another check on the bucket list!

Looking to the left a Humpback whale surfaces with a big blow!  Looking to the right, a Minke slides silently out of the water and back down, stunning the naturalist aboard.  I exclaim: Minke!  She looks at me and asks how I know?  Umm.  I reply: this is my job at home.  She says: Oh!

We get a good look at a Bald eagle high in one of those tall tall trees.  He is watching the small waterfall below, as are two native fishermen with hand nets...and the man in the boat is holding up a big salmon for all to see.

Turning for the run back to Sitka, still in the rain and heavy mist, I take a last look at a raft of bobbing brown dark heads, all together in a big otter jumble.  I smile.

Did you know....Sea otters are tained in water ballet?

It seems otters can "dance" even in the rain!