Chatham Strait & Pavlof Harbor
Today we experienced our first morning sailing through the inside passage. Our Expedition Leader did an early wake up call, since there was wildlife to see. A few humpback whales surfaced and fluked around us, and a mother and calf surprised us with their acrobatic breaches. We also scanned the shorelines of Chichagof Island to find several coastal brown bears. They were all together on shore, some chasing each other and some playing around. At least four bears were seen this morning from the bow.
Our afternoon activities included exploring Pavlof Harbor by land and by kayak. The highlight of this place is its abundance of brown bears. We split into groups to walk towards a salmon stream where we expected to find some of these mystic animals feeding on the pink salmon run. Once there, we patiently awaited until the first bear showed up. A young brown bear that skillfully ran over the shallow water catching salmon and ate them on shore. After a few minutes our bear sniffed the air and looked back, dropping its fish, as it ran away as fast as it could. Another bigger bear started feeding on the stolen fish and continued to successfully catch some more and ate them in a rush.
Bears came and went, appearing, disappearing and reappearing from inside the thick forest into the stream. Three bears were seen and both hikers and kayakers experienced an unforgettable afternoon with the ambassadors of the temperate rain forest of Southeast Alaska.
For recap we had the honor of listening to local researchers from the Alaska Whale Foundation (Fred Sharp) and National Geographic (Greg Marshall), and renown marine mammal illustrator Pieter Folkens joined us as well. These friends of ours were anchored inside Freshwater Bay, the same place where we spent the afternoon. They joined us to share some fascinating facts about their research including the use of the Crittercam to find out about the secret lives of humpback whales.
Today we experienced our first morning sailing through the inside passage. Our Expedition Leader did an early wake up call, since there was wildlife to see. A few humpback whales surfaced and fluked around us, and a mother and calf surprised us with their acrobatic breaches. We also scanned the shorelines of Chichagof Island to find several coastal brown bears. They were all together on shore, some chasing each other and some playing around. At least four bears were seen this morning from the bow.
Our afternoon activities included exploring Pavlof Harbor by land and by kayak. The highlight of this place is its abundance of brown bears. We split into groups to walk towards a salmon stream where we expected to find some of these mystic animals feeding on the pink salmon run. Once there, we patiently awaited until the first bear showed up. A young brown bear that skillfully ran over the shallow water catching salmon and ate them on shore. After a few minutes our bear sniffed the air and looked back, dropping its fish, as it ran away as fast as it could. Another bigger bear started feeding on the stolen fish and continued to successfully catch some more and ate them in a rush.
Bears came and went, appearing, disappearing and reappearing from inside the thick forest into the stream. Three bears were seen and both hikers and kayakers experienced an unforgettable afternoon with the ambassadors of the temperate rain forest of Southeast Alaska.
For recap we had the honor of listening to local researchers from the Alaska Whale Foundation (Fred Sharp) and National Geographic (Greg Marshall), and renown marine mammal illustrator Pieter Folkens joined us as well. These friends of ours were anchored inside Freshwater Bay, the same place where we spent the afternoon. They joined us to share some fascinating facts about their research including the use of the Crittercam to find out about the secret lives of humpback whales.
