Since there didn’t seem to be much wildlife at Kakushdish, we decided to head for Discovery Anchorage, in Troup Passage.  We still have wall-to-wall blue skies, and the temperature has been up in the 80’s!

It was only an hour-and-a-half run to Discovery, so I was able to get in a paddle shortly after anchoring.  With temperatures up in the 80’s, and not a breath of air, I took a chance that I wouldn’t capsize and only put on 3 layers of clothing.

I was paddling very slowly around the first point of land, trying to stay cool, when out of the corner of my eye I saw something pop up about 20 feet from me…..scared the living you know what out of me.  After my initial shock, my first impression was that it was a turtle.  But wait, there aren’t any turtles around here and turtles don’t have whiskers.  Maybe it’s an otter I thought.  Whatever it was continued floating along, completely oblivious to my presence.  In the meantime, I was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, while getting my camera out of my jacket.  When I finally got my camera zoomed in and the white balance adjusted, I realized it was a seal, floating on his back, soaking up some rays!  I have never seen a seal floating on his back before.  About that time, the seal realized he wasn’t alone, made a huge splash, and a hasty retreat.  Luckily, I was able to get this one shot. 

 

Around the next point of land, I spotted something moving in the shade on the beach.  It was hard to make out what it was, until I zoomed in and discovered it was a doe and her fawn.  The tide was very low, so they were quite a ways up the beach, staying close enough to the trees so that they could dash for cover should they encounter any “unfriendlies”.