Sitka was our next port of call, and we decided to take Viking’s “Fortress of the Bears” shore excursion. Who could resist an outing called Fortress of the Bears? As it turned out, we saw brown bears and black bears at a bear rescue/recovery center, but we first visited a homestead out in the wilderness, and saw several bald eagles, perhaps watching for the salmon run. Here are some photos:
Bald eagle in classic profile view, perched near the water. This is in the coastal rain forest where everything is damp if not wet, and you can see moss growing from some of the branches. We were near the homestead site which, while remote, did have electricity. There was even a small hydroelectric plant nearby, manufacturing electricity for the power grid.Sight-seeing boat that brought us to the homestead site. It was a comfortable ride, as we were cruising in fjords branching off from a sheltered bay, and the water was quite calm.Adult bald eagle on the left and an immature adult bald eagle on the right. Our guides said that eagles do not get their characteristic white heads until they are about five years old. These birds were near a fish hatchery, and we noticed that the hatchery had screens in place to keep birds from raiding the tanks.Another adult eagle, looking at us head-on. We did not see any eagles fishing, but maybe they fish only at certain times of day or at a certain stage of the tides. And yet another mature bald eagle, spotted in a striking pose. All of the eagles we saw were perched, alert, and watchful.Salmon attempting to swim up a waterfall. The flow was unusually heavy because of recent rains, so we don’t know if any of them made it.By now you may wonder what became of Fortress of the Bears. It came later in our tour, and here is our first photo of a grizzly, or brown bear at the refuge. A poster in the lobby attempted to explain that grizzlies, brown bears, and a third kind of bear that I can’t remember are all sub-species of a kind of bear that differs from black bears and polar bears. Kodiak bears are part of the brown bear sub-species, or maybe they are a sub-sub-species? Guess we should have taken notes. Regardless, the brown bears on the Alaska coast are larger than grizzlies we have seen in Yellowstone, Glacier, and Denali National Parks. Time for the annual Fat Bear contest?Healthy-looking black bear at Fortress of the Bears. This black bear was more active than the brown bears in the other enclosures, but we don’t know if this was a matter of health, personality, or ??? Bears are brought to this center as accident victims or perhaps as orphaned cubs. After rehab they are released to the wild, but some bears may have to kept here indefinitely for their own good.Float plane near Sitka. A road map of Alaska would not need much ink because there simply are not very many roads. It is a huge state, and float planes, bush planes, or boats are often the most practical way to get around, depending on where you want to go. It was always impressive to see these planes take off or swoop in for a landing; for some reason it reminded us of crop dusters flying close to the ground and making daredevil turns on no notice.Evening view as we leave Sitka. Mostly cloudy skies, calm seas, and smooth sailing.
