We began our day in Chatham Strait. The weather was splendid, with bright clear skies and glassy water. We intended to land on Chichagof Island but our plans were interrupted by killer whales. The whales appeared at breakfast and we spent most of the morning with them. We traveled with a “resident” pod. By their numbers, behavior and morphology it was clear that these were the easy-going and surface-active king salmon eaters.
Naturalists spoke about various aspects of these fascinating creatures. Sometimes called “wolves of the sea,” in many ways they really are more like humans. Regularly, Dall’s porpoises came by. These speedy creatures often snatch a breath at high speed, producing a rooster-tail of spray. Fast though they may be, Dall’s porpoises fall prey to killer whales, and the fact that these animals readily swam near the whales indicated that they too were confident of our whales’ piscivory.
In the afternoon we stopped at the north end of Baranof Island. The trail to Lake Eva follows a swift-flowing stream that, in late summer, brims with salmon. We walked the trail at degrees of varying vigor, hearing about the intimate connection between the salmon and the trees. Others traveled by kayak or by expedition landing craft, exploring the intricacies of this fjord-rent land.
