Pavlof Harbor, Chichagof Island
Rain and rain forest, salmon and bears. Our morning ashore at Pavlof Harbor was an intimate look into an intact temperate coastal rainforest at work. Witnessing the number of freshly bear- caught and recently bear-consumed salmon in the stream as well as the fish leaping into the rushing water at the foot of the falls to reach their spawning gravels was an exciting preparation for the arrival of the star of our day.
As our walks proceeded cautiously into the deep greens of the drenched forest, an excited radio call came from Marca—there’s a bear on the beach!! An adolescent two- or three-year-old brown bear calmly walked up the trail and into the shallow water below the falls. All of the hikers quickly regrouped and carefully made our way into places where we could watch the action without disturbing the bear. To our delight, it caught a pink salmon and carried it to a rocky outcrop in the stream. After a while, the bear ambled down the beach past our landing and off into the next cove. What could be better?
Fred Sharpe, Andy Szavo and Peter Folkiens from the Alaska Whale Foundation as well a BBC film crew arrived by boat in the late morning to share some of their research with humpback whales over the past 25 years. The stories were rich and added depth to our understanding of these huge and intelligent marine mammals.
Some of this week’s discussions centered on the larger questions that are arising. As populations like humpback whales and sea otters recover, how will our relationship with wild places change?
