Sitkoh Bay and Iyoukeen Cove
The season is definitely turning… recent rains, that certain coolness in the air, annual plants are dying back and mushrooms have popped up all over the forest floor. As summer moves toward autumn, the animals are preparing to survive another winter. Red squirrels prune the cones from the tops of Sitka spruce trees and stash them in holes near the roots, bears are consuming berries and salmon while whales continue to pack on blubber before they migrate to warmer waters.
As we walked through awe-inspiring old growth forest this morning we witnessed the changing of the season among the big trees and down in the understory. Ripe cones of red berries top the bright green of the devil’s club and many of the salmon berry branches have been stripped by bears. Clumps of bright red elderberries decorate the middle of the scene. Along the forest floor, we look for the fruiting bodies of fungi, those beautiful carriers of the spores that will produce the next generation.
Heading out to the bow following an in-depth photo workshop, a nearby humpback whale began breaching and we practiced our new skills with this incredible subject! We were also fortunate to observe several rounds of bubble-net feeding. Our friend and colleague, Dr. Fred Sharpe of the Alaska Whale Foundation, (also in Iyoukeen Cove observing whales today) kindly came over to the National Geographic Sea Bird to talk about the humpback whales and his more than 20 years of research centering on their complex cooperative feeding behaviors. These amazing animals use sound and bubbles as tools to frighten and surround small schooling fish and work together to gulp the concentrated prey.
Our first day of trip has been remarkable and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring.
