Frederick Sound & Port Houghton
After a good night sleep, morning found us on Stephens Passage, a perfect place to search for marine life. Once we were all scanning around we got to see several harbor seals, Dall’s porpoises, sea otters and more, but the main goal was to find humpback whales. At 10 am our searching was postponed by Prof. Ron Smith from Yale University who gave a lecture on “Glaciers, Sea Ice and Permafrost”, another of his very interesting lectures.
After lunch, when we all made it back on deck, several humpback whales were spotted, lucky enough we got, that they were so close that we could hear them breathing, lovely sound when they inhale and exhale. They were so close to the ship that we had a good sense of how big they are; beautiful peaceful giants that can reach over 45 feet and weigh up to 40 tons or more. At one point we were surrounded by at least six or seven whales.
For our afternoon activities we headed into Port Houghton, a roadless area located directly south of Tracy Arm and Fords Terror Wilderness, bordered on the west by Stephens Passage. There is evidence, including petroglyphs, that the area has been used since prehistoric times, probably by Tlingit people. In more recent history, evidence of small homesteads, logging, mining activities, and fox farms can still be found dating back to the 1800s and early 1900s. On our way into the end of the port, we navigated under low scattered clouds hanging amongst the towering temperate rainforest. Snow still on top of the mountains made a stunning landscape appreciated by Zodiac tours or hikes through the salt chucks and old growth forest.
For sure another wonderful day in Southeast Alaska!
After a good night sleep, morning found us on Stephens Passage, a perfect place to search for marine life. Once we were all scanning around we got to see several harbor seals, Dall’s porpoises, sea otters and more, but the main goal was to find humpback whales. At 10 am our searching was postponed by Prof. Ron Smith from Yale University who gave a lecture on “Glaciers, Sea Ice and Permafrost”, another of his very interesting lectures.
After lunch, when we all made it back on deck, several humpback whales were spotted, lucky enough we got, that they were so close that we could hear them breathing, lovely sound when they inhale and exhale. They were so close to the ship that we had a good sense of how big they are; beautiful peaceful giants that can reach over 45 feet and weigh up to 40 tons or more. At one point we were surrounded by at least six or seven whales.
For our afternoon activities we headed into Port Houghton, a roadless area located directly south of Tracy Arm and Fords Terror Wilderness, bordered on the west by Stephens Passage. There is evidence, including petroglyphs, that the area has been used since prehistoric times, probably by Tlingit people. In more recent history, evidence of small homesteads, logging, mining activities, and fox farms can still be found dating back to the 1800s and early 1900s. On our way into the end of the port, we navigated under low scattered clouds hanging amongst the towering temperate rainforest. Snow still on top of the mountains made a stunning landscape appreciated by Zodiac tours or hikes through the salt chucks and old growth forest.
For sure another wonderful day in Southeast Alaska!
