This beautiful pink anemone and lovely Hermissendra nudibranch, filmed while it was laying an eggmass, are just two of the many fascinating animals which I encountered on a brief dive today off the western tip of George Island. As I reported last week, I am conducting some of the very first dives ever from Lindblad Expeditions’ ships in Southeast Alaska, testing the waters for future Undersea Specialists. Using our digital video cameras and other high tech gear to extend our guests’ senses into the submarine realm, we are revealing yet another wonderful facet of this remarkable region.
Just as the forests and mountains, fjords and broad channels of the Alexander Archipelago each have their own character, so do the underwater worlds of the different coasts and islands. Last week I dove at the mouth of Idaho Inlet where the bottom was soft sediment, visibility was low and a blizzard of silt and detritus swept down out of the hills surrounding the bay, concealing all surfaces beneath a soft blanket. Some animals, like the Metridium anemones and sunflower sea stars, thrived in this environment but diversity was fairly low. By contrast, George Island, where I dove today, is exposed to the open Pacific Ocean where powerful currents sweep away loose debris. Here I found a bottom of large cobbles, hemmed in by steep rocky walls. The profusion of life all around me was amazing! Forty-foot-tall giant bull kelp formed a swaying forest, through which lovely kelp greenling swam. Anemones, tunicates, sponges, brittle stars, sea stars, and exquisite soft corals jammed every inch of the rocky reef surface. Sea jellies and ctenophores drifted by in the soft green haze of the water. It was a delightful scene and a startling contrast to what I had encountered just a week earlier and only a few miles away.
As always, I edited what I had shot quickly and presented it to the guests during recap this evening. It has been very exciting for me to begin extending our expedition’s vision into the rich seas of Alaska; I’m already looking forward to the next opportunities.
Just as the forests and mountains, fjords and broad channels of the Alexander Archipelago each have their own character, so do the underwater worlds of the different coasts and islands. Last week I dove at the mouth of Idaho Inlet where the bottom was soft sediment, visibility was low and a blizzard of silt and detritus swept down out of the hills surrounding the bay, concealing all surfaces beneath a soft blanket. Some animals, like the Metridium anemones and sunflower sea stars, thrived in this environment but diversity was fairly low. By contrast, George Island, where I dove today, is exposed to the open Pacific Ocean where powerful currents sweep away loose debris. Here I found a bottom of large cobbles, hemmed in by steep rocky walls. The profusion of life all around me was amazing! Forty-foot-tall giant bull kelp formed a swaying forest, through which lovely kelp greenling swam. Anemones, tunicates, sponges, brittle stars, sea stars, and exquisite soft corals jammed every inch of the rocky reef surface. Sea jellies and ctenophores drifted by in the soft green haze of the water. It was a delightful scene and a startling contrast to what I had encountered just a week earlier and only a few miles away.
As always, I edited what I had shot quickly and presented it to the guests during recap this evening. It has been very exciting for me to begin extending our expedition’s vision into the rich seas of Alaska; I’m already looking forward to the next opportunities.
