This afternoon at the confluence of Chatham and Peril Straits we came upon a gang of gourmandizing leviathans. A planned hike was put on hold as we watched a cooperative feeding group of seven or eight weighty humpback whales running up and back along Morris Reef in pursuit of herring. The whales would surface less than two minutes after they disappeared with a puff, in dramatic fashion with mouths agape and flippers flying.

Glaucous winged gulls and mew gulls were circling overhead following the feeding antics of the whales, providing us with clues as where to aim our cameras. These birds also gave us clues about the changing seasons, the gulls now being off their breeding colonies and nests on the outer coast.

We enticed members of the Alaska Whale Foundation (AWF), the research group studying the unique cooperative feeding behavior of humpbacks, to come aboard. In his red Mustang survival suit and sailor's shirt, AWF founder Fred Sharpe explained the group dynamics of this incredible "bubble net feeding" technique, even pointing out known individual whales to us, including "Arpeggio" and "Scratch". We also watched unreleased "critter cam" footage of a feeding humpback traveling the depths.

Lindblad Expeditions helps support local research and conservation organizations worldwide like the Alaska Whale Foundation.

Besides the exuberant whale feeding behavior, we enjoyed a serene morning kayaking and Zodiac touring in Kelp Bay on Baranof Island. We cruised still waters embraced by the black, gold, white and blue intertidal zone of lichen, algae, barnacle and mussel at a minus low tide. In addition to curious marine creatures like sea stars and feeding sea cucumbers, we discovered mustering schools of salmon, foraging minks, hauled out harbor seals, flighty kingfishers and scads of bald eagles.