Sitka

Today's adventure brought us to Sitka.
This eagle I think was our greeter.  He did not fly away, just stuck
around while we disembarked.

There are so many small islands with just one house on it.
Only way is by boat, or you could walk to some when the tide is out.

The boat I was on this time first took us to an island where there
was a nesting pair of bald eagles.
Only one of the young was in the nest.  They had both fledged, and
did seem to stay close to home. The Mother and Father
were not very far away.

An attempt at the sun coming out!

The tide would come and go a couple of times during the day.
The orange, Sea star would show up along the coast of some of the small islands.

Today the quest was to see, Sea Otter's.
We are pretty sure, some of the mom's had their babies with
them as they floated along. The young rest of mom's tummy.

We were able to get pretty close to them.
Some did not seem to mind the visitors, others shot down in the
water to pop up in another place.

They were so much fun to watch.
Plus they are cute!

They were quite willing to pose for us.

Aboard four touring ship.
Once again, I spent very little time below deck.
I wanted to be out where the action was.

Again a little bit of blue sky!

This is Mount Edgecumbe. It is a dormant cinder cone.

Once again we got to see Humpback Whales.
I can't ever stop watching them.
When we were on Maui in the winter, I would watch for them.
Now here in Alaska, I got to see even more.

We were up close and personal again to several

They are fascinating and amazing.

Once again we saw a female and her calf of this year.

On this trip we got to see a Harbor Seal.
He was lounging on a bouy.

He was having a lovely time posing for us.

I'm ready for my closeup!

We also got to see a coupe of Stellar Sea Lions.
They can't climb up on these rocks.
The only way is when the tide is in and allows them to climb
by way of the water.  We could only see two on this small
area of rocks.

It is hard for some of the boats to get around, as the tide can
cover the rocks when it is in.

Don't you just love seeing these cute Otter's?
Way better then seeing them in the zoo.

cuteness!

There was a rumor that Johnny Depp had just purchased this island and
house for $3 million.  You can only get to it by boat.  Looks pretty nice.

There were several fishing boats out on the water.
The salmon were running.

The totem poles have such interesting stories.
There are lots of areas where they are on display.

At the quilt shop in town I saw this pincushion.
Forget me not
They are so prettty.

Shasta Daisies.

Russian Orthodox church in town.
There is a lot of Russian influence in the town.

I love these towns.
They are not quite like the towns we see around home.
These are quaint and fun.

The hydrangea was such a pretty blue. 

I did find a small patch of Forget me not's.

At the welcome center.

Fireweed.  It is so pretty.

Once again, here I am.  The boat I had traveled on for the Otter Quest
is in the background.

A couple of the fun animals we would find in our room before bed
each night.
Once again I had a wonderful day, out and about, checking out
the local wildlife.

Mary