Frederick Sound to Port Houghton
Wow—what an incredible day. It is hard to know where to begin, but the beginning in Eliza Harbor is as good a place as any. In the misty light of early morning, the good ship Sea Lion was found cruising up a very narrow passageway, accompanied by harbor seals, eagles and the kind of light conditions that are photographer’s dream. On the way out of Eliza, the first major marine mammal event of the day commenced--a solitary humpback whale putting his heart and soul into the process of lunge feeding. We would see a big splash of white water immediately followed by a huge gaping mouth sucking in a ton of water and all the fish contained therein. This was repeated over and over, sometimes so close to the bow that we could smell the fish that the whale was consuming in enormous quantities.
We stopped again near Spruce Island where we were surrounded by humpbacks doing what they do best—eating again. They were also drifting along near the surface taking a power nap and just the opposite—blasting out of the water in a breach that took their whole body airborne with a twist or two for style points.
At Port Houghton, we got our first introduction to the ecology of Southeast Alaska by hiking across a salt marsh into patches of rainforest dominated by Sitka Spruce. We found tracks of deer and moose and Canada Geese and even a Lion’s Mane jellyfish stranded along the high tide line. We also learned that some of the rocks were more than a billion years old and that gold could be found in the quartz veins. A Zodiac ride provided more marvelous scenery plus numerous bald eagles and even a brown bear catching a fish for the lucky ones first on the scene.
The best was saved for an after dinner treat. Whale soup in the sunset! In a seascape bathed in orange-gold light, humpbacks were everywhere—diving, lunge-feeding and logging on the surface. The digital camera mega-pixels recorded were totally off the scale. But far better than any electronic image was the indelible impression of the wonderland of Southeast Alaska that this remarkable scene left on our hearts and minds.
Wow—what an incredible day. It is hard to know where to begin, but the beginning in Eliza Harbor is as good a place as any. In the misty light of early morning, the good ship Sea Lion was found cruising up a very narrow passageway, accompanied by harbor seals, eagles and the kind of light conditions that are photographer’s dream. On the way out of Eliza, the first major marine mammal event of the day commenced--a solitary humpback whale putting his heart and soul into the process of lunge feeding. We would see a big splash of white water immediately followed by a huge gaping mouth sucking in a ton of water and all the fish contained therein. This was repeated over and over, sometimes so close to the bow that we could smell the fish that the whale was consuming in enormous quantities.
We stopped again near Spruce Island where we were surrounded by humpbacks doing what they do best—eating again. They were also drifting along near the surface taking a power nap and just the opposite—blasting out of the water in a breach that took their whole body airborne with a twist or two for style points.
At Port Houghton, we got our first introduction to the ecology of Southeast Alaska by hiking across a salt marsh into patches of rainforest dominated by Sitka Spruce. We found tracks of deer and moose and Canada Geese and even a Lion’s Mane jellyfish stranded along the high tide line. We also learned that some of the rocks were more than a billion years old and that gold could be found in the quartz veins. A Zodiac ride provided more marvelous scenery plus numerous bald eagles and even a brown bear catching a fish for the lucky ones first on the scene.
The best was saved for an after dinner treat. Whale soup in the sunset! In a seascape bathed in orange-gold light, humpbacks were everywhere—diving, lunge-feeding and logging on the surface. The digital camera mega-pixels recorded were totally off the scale. But far better than any electronic image was the indelible impression of the wonderland of Southeast Alaska that this remarkable scene left on our hearts and minds.
