Moose, Lynn Canal, Inside Passage, Alaska #3081

Never in my born days did I think I would see a momma moose and her calves swimming across the open ocean, especially in such a large body of water like Lynn Canal near Point Couverden. I shot this image from a boat using a very long lens so our presence would not add any more stress to an already stressful situation for the moose. To my relief the moose family turned back toward the shore. We motored away with the moose standing safely on solid ground. Weeks later I was speaking with a biologist at Fish and Game trying to understand this behavior. He thought a bear might have chased the moose into the water, and in all likelihood the mother moose was not planning on swimming across Lynn Canal. This photo illustrates both the month of October in my Alaska 2019 Calendar, and the month of August in my Juneau 2019 Calendar. Thank you for visiting and enjoy – Camera: Nikon D800, Lens: Nikkor 80-400mm, Digital Capture, hand held  ©Mark Kelley