Pete Oxford, our expedition leader asks facetiously as our boat goes by. In the evening, we took the third Zodiac trip of the day. This time we cruised just off Kaligagan Island, until we came across a colony of Stellar sea lions, roaring and growling on the rocks and in the sea. A big beachmaster perched high on the rocks guarding his harem of females that surround him. A coven of sea lions in the water form a circle of growling creatures, taking turns craning their necks out of the water to watch our actions.
Eagles fly over our heads.
It was a beautiful last evening among the wildlife of the Aleutians. We are drawing closer to shore and the end of our voyage, but not the end of our journey. The captain's dinner is planned for the night of the 11 th , and on the morning of the 12 th we disembark in Cold Bay. The Alaskan pilot on board our ship tells me that our best shot at seeing the peaks of volcanoes might be the flight from Cold Bay to Anchorage. The mountain tops are generally visible above the low-hanging clouds that have shrouded the Aleutian peaks from our view.