The
first full day at Homer we had a beautiful sunny day. We took a
7hour boat tour to Gull Island and Seldovia. More info on the boat
tour here.
Leaving
the small boat harbor
Out
in the bay
On
the way to Gull Island we saw this poor young humpback whale tangled
up in the rope from a buoy.
A
couple of days later we found out he got untangled with help from the
wildlife people. If he was unable to get free he would die.
Our
first stop was viewing Gull Island, a sea gull rookery. There are a
thousand or more birds on these two small islands.
Right now there
are serious problems with the gulls nesting. There are a couple of
immature eagles living at the island. A few times an hour the eagles
will make a pass by the cliffs scaring up gull. Makes it very
difficult for the birds to stay on the nest while the eagles swoop
by.
Approaching
Gull Island. The little specs you see around the island are the
gulls flying. Click on the picture for a larger and clearer view.
Gulls
on the rocks and common mures in the water.
A
few of the gulls managed to lay eggs in these nests
I
guess that since these nests are back in kind of protective overhang
they feel safe from the eagles.
The
eagle is sitting on the tip of the rock in the upper right corner in
this photo
A
closer view of the eagle
Near
the island we saw these rafts of Common Mures (Common Murre). They fly out to feed
in the evening and come back to rest here during the day.
A
closer view of the Common Mures (Common Murre)
Detailed info about Common Mures (Common Murre) from the Audubon website.
From
Gull Island we slowly cruised along the coast line and a string of
islands to Seldovia.
Some
views along the way:
The
rivers flowing into the bay here originate from glaciers and have
huge amounts of glacial silt in their water. When the bay water is
still the silty water creates a distinct border with the clearer
water of the bay.
Sea
otters floating
A
couple of the otters sunning themselves on the rocks
A
view of one of the islands with Iliamna Volcano in the back ground.
If
you look closely in the above photo you will see some yellow kayaks
just right of center. On several of these islands there are private
cabins for rent. From Homer, water taxis will take you the cabin you
have rented.
We
arrived at Seldovia right at lunch time with about 3 hours to explore
the town, or to take a hike on one of the local trails.
We
opted for lunch at the Tide Pool Cafe with a view of the harbor.
Fish
& Chips
Lunch was OK. The fish had an extra heavy layer of batter and not a lot of fish. Pricey at $18 each.
After
lunch we walked around town.
A
bald eagle posed for us in this tree along the boardwalk.
A
closer look
Back
at the harbor we posed for a picture
On
the ride back to Homer we saw a couple of whales at a distance. I
was unable to get a picture though.
We
did see these sea otters a few miles from shore in about 400-600' of
water. I thought they stayed in shallower water. I guess not!
A
view of the water & mountains
Back
at camp we had some very nice views from the side window of our motorhome and/or our front yard. Just another reason we dry camp rather than stay in an RV Park.
That's
all for now.
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