Wow, was this ever a rainy day! The morning dawned gray, chilly, and utterly bucketing rain. Waves slapped the hull as we rested at anchor on the west end of Peril Strait. After breakfast we loaded into expedition landing craft, bundled in layers of warm and waterproof clothing. Wind roared, salty spray doused us all in seconds of departing the ship, and rain pelted sideways. Luckily spirits were high and folks were laughing as we bumped over the waves, dashing for cover in De Groff Bay, a protected bay inside an island. Harbor seals were spotted along with bald eagles and an abundance of lichen hanging from the trees. By the time we returned to the ship we were pretty well soaked to the bone and ready for a warm renewing beverage. The morning was wrapped up by a presentation (introduction to digital photography) and hands-on breakout sessions where folks learned more about their cameras.
The afternoon progressed with bouts of rain passing and clouds glowering above. We transited Sergius Narrows and made our way out into Peril Strait, where we came across a couple of humpback whales. Activity heated up after our arrival as the two whales began to cooperatively feed, lunging from the water with mouths gaping wide. Suddenly a small group of orca surfaced beside the humpbacks, moving quickly to the west. The humpbacks were clearly distressed, breathing heavily and lashing the water with their tails. Perhaps the orcas were considering an early dinner. Just as quickly as they had appeared, the orca disappeared and the humpbacks went on to team up with another humpback duo. Bubblenet feeding commenced, with utterly spectacular displays of bubble rings followed by whales launching themselves out of the water in pursuit of herring. We even saw hundreds of herring leaping from the water as the whales broke the surface, desperately wriggling away to safety. After several bubblenets, the whales broke apart and we headed into the lounge for a fascinating talk about brown bears from our naturalist Alberto.
The evening concluded with a delicious meal followed by undersea specialist Shay's presentation on diving in Southeast Alaska.
