The first day of our expedition could not have started in a better way. We spotted a solitary humpback whale shortly after six o’clock in the morning and a little bit later a couple of brown bears! They were feeding on the beach along the high-tide line, possibly looking for barnacles, and sometimes getting a mouthful of grass as well. The brown bear is an omnivorous creature with a big appetite, capable of eating a wide range of both animal and vegetable matter and is the only bear species found in Chichagof Island. We watched the bears for a long time and even discovered a solitary Sitka black-tailed deer nearby.
We continued our search along the eastern shore of the island and almost immediately spotted a third bear far away; however, we never made it close to him because a group of killer whales surfaced half a mile away in front of the ship! The National Geographic Sea Bird quickly headed their way and soon discovered that there were many, many killer whales scattered all around. I didn’t even try to count, but there were possibly around 40 or 50 individuals in the area. Killer whales are found throughout the globe, but are more abundant in higher latitudes and kind of an Alaskan icon. However, even here, we don’t see them every day and it is always very exciting to encounter the top predator in the planet! We watched them for a long time and on several occasions small groups of whales approached the ship very closely; once we even had to look straight down to see some!
After looking carefully at the photos we took and comparing those with the killer whale catalogues on board, we were able to determine that there were individuals from at least two different groups, the AF and AG pods. They are resident-type whales that have been seen from Prince William Sound to the northern portion of Southeast Alaska.
During the early afternoon we explored the beautiful Pavlof Harbor, also located on the eastern side of Chichagof Island. We got our first chance to hike on the temperate rain forest of the Tongass National Forest. All of us who participated in either the leisure, medium, or long hikes enjoyed the great beauty and serenity of this marvelous environment, and learned about the adaptations of the many creatures that call it home. We also had our first opportunity to go kayaking in the calm waters along the shoreline while enjoying the excellent weather. We could not have asked for a more exciting day in Southeast Alaska!
