Today I paddled out of Roche Harbor for a 5 hour tour with quite an international crew. The first part of the day was quite challenging-- fighting a strong flood through Mosquito Pass before being able to emerge south of Henry Island and ride the flood back north. I was excited about the very low tide today, as often there's a good chance to see all sorts of critters, and today was no exception-- we saw dozens of sea stars, a few river otters, geese and their goslings, a couple of harbor seals and many bald eagles.
But by far the real highlight of the day-- and perhaps my whole spring thus far-- was seeing a fox and her kits! We were paddling across the channel when we spotted a red fox down at the low tide line digging and turning over rocks. She seemed pretty intent on her hunt and didn't mind us watching from a distance. That was exciting enough when above her we saw a tiny black kit! Eventually we made out a few kits hiding in the grass, but none made their way down onto the beach. After hunting for a while we watched as the mother trotted up the bank and reunited with her pups.
I rarely see foxes during the sea kayak tours, so today was quite a treat!