Early risers on the bow of National Geographic Sea Lion were treated to rain and wind and chop, and the distant breaths and flukes of a few humpback whales. Those who joined in on the light exercise class before breakfast had the help of blustery sideways rain and wind to shake and tap and cleanse our energy.
The captain brought the ship into our morning anchorage off the northeast coast of Chichagof Island and we made our way to the shores of Pavlof Harbor. People divided into walking groups of varying distances, with focus for natural history or photography. The plan was to walk along the rocky shoreline of a salmon stream, continuing into the forest along boot-sucking muddy bear trails. However, this time of year, we all hoped for a change of plan. It’s salmon season and the tide was flowing in, which is a wonderful time to fish. We were hoping at least one brown bear thought so too. As the first group rounded the corner up the stream towards the falls, they did indeed see a big brown fuzzy creature alternately ambling and pouncing in the waters. Score! They settled into standing and sitting along the shoreline at a safe viewing distance. The bear caught a salmon, munched on it, then continued to look for more. The medium- and short-hiking groups joined the original group, as did the Zodiac cruisers. The bear continued fishing for awhile, then brought one of its catch into the forest from the opposite bank. It was too windy for kayaking, so people stayed along the bank hoping for another bear sighting, and a second round of Zodiac cruisers joined.
In the afternoon, shortly after lunch, a naturalist came over the PA encouraging us to don our raingear once again, arm ourselves with cameras and binoculars, and come on out to the bow. Humpback whales ahead, with one of them very active on the surface. We watched that whale breach several times, dive down, then pop up on the other side or astern of the ship and breach again. There were probably a dozen whales all around, and it soon became apparent that one of the breaching whales was a baby. As we watched this baby flipper flap and breach, a group of whales surfaced right next to it all together with mouths wide open – we were witnessing a cooperative bubble net feeding! WOW. It was thrilling to watch the whole thing assemble. The baby whale continued to flipper flap and breach, punctuated occasionally by an adult breaching, and lots of humpbacks all around. There was a second bubble net. And we put the hydrophone down and heard the singing. Where will they come up next? We watched another eight or nine sets of feeding and continued breaching. The rain began again in earnest, the whales disappeared to the port side of the ship and came up very close off the port quarter, moving and breathing off the stern of the ship. It was breathtaking for us! A perfect finale to our whale-watching for the afternoon, to our day, and to our amazing journey here in Southeast Alaska.
Back inside with hot beverages, we gathered for a presentation by our National Geographic photographer, and then had a wonderful cocktail hour, slide show, and farewell dinner with the captain.
