The below photos don’t capture the beauty of this landscape. To appreciate the fiords’ enormity, you really must look straight up from ship’s deck 5,500 feet to the top of Mt. Mitre.
Falls surrounded us. Our captain paused several times to park the bow under a few and encourage the brave to take a shower. He also stopped to take a close look at seals lounging on the rocks.
The boat cruised out to a dark and stormy sea where we turned around. Sawyer looked a bit green, so Hillery took him on deck.
On our way back to the wharf the captain dropped us off for a visit at the Milford Underwater Observatory. A thick, plastic tube with a spiral staircase inside descends 35 feet below sea level. Due to constant rains, sea in the fiordland is covered with a layer of tannin-rich freshwater, which blocks light to the clear saltwater beneath. The result is deep sea life living relatively close to the surface. Unique is the black coral, which is actually white. Saw lots of colorful fish and other sea life, including a starfish eating a mussel. Learned the starfish injects its own stomach into its food to dine.
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