Hey Folks,
Another photo from our July sea kayaking trip to Icy Bay. After a great day paddling across the bay, hiking along the edge of the Karr Hills and taking a close look at the Yahtse Glacier, we paddled back toward camp and found Harbor seals .. lots of Harbor Seals.
There are an estimated 3500 harbor seals in Icy Bay, and we saw plenty this afternoon.
It seemed like every other ice floe had a small family of seals lazing upon it, resting on the ice in the sun. Though many of them are somewhat skittish, because they’re so NOT used to human visitors, we had our share of seals that allowed us a closer look. Using the kind of approach that I recommend in my wildlife photography tutorial, we were able to approach pretty closely without disturbing them. If we moved slowly or not at all and just drifted quietly along, they didn’t seem to be too alarmed.
Harbor seals can be pretty skittish in areas where they’re hunted. We just had to let the sea kayaks drift and stay still, and quiet, and and did our best not to disturb them. Eventually they’d settle down and we all got some nice photos.
One interesting aspect of the wildlife ecology here is the prevalence of Harbor seals yet complete absence of orcas, a major predator of the seals. I’ve never heard of anyone, ever, seeing an Orca in Icy Bay; for some reason they just don’t come into the area. As a result, the seals are abundant, and somewhat casual, less wary than they can be elsewhere.
I’m not sure whether orcas avoid Icy Bay because of the shallow entrance to the bay or because of how cold the water is up in the north end of the bay or quite what it is.
I shot a few video clips of the seals on the icebergs, as well as a number of still photos, as well. It really helps to have such relatively calm waters to sea kayak in when photographing, and Icy Bay is great in that regard. Even though some times its windy here, generally the water is reasonably calm and protected; great sea kayaking.
If you’re reading this and enjoy sea kayaking, I highly recommend you browse our sea kayaking tutorial; lots of great info and instruction and tips to help you plan a trip.
Heading off for a Brown Bear Photo Tour soon; I’ll maybe catch some more harbor seal photos on that trip, as we’ll be along the Katmai Coast. Big fun!
Cheers
Carl
