Pavlof Harbor
The National Geographic Sea Bird slipped through the glassy waters of Chatham Strait towards Pavlof Harbor, where we planned to spend the first part of the day hiking, kayaking, and exploring by Zodiac. A full-morning outing provided ambitious hikers with the opportunity for a real Alaskan adventure of soggy boots, log scrambling, stream crossings, and the chance to negotiate a climb down a waterfall. Two moderate-paced groups experienced true boot-sucking mud and, like those ahead of them, many luxuriant ferns in the forest and along the lakeshore. A leisure walk led to the base of a cascading waterfall fed by Pavlof Lake. Along the way the trail passed by Indian paintbrushes, silverweed, and cow parsnip blossoms that dotted the meadow-margin between the stream and alders. It was also exciting to visit the waterfall by Zodiac and kayak and to search for sea stars, while bald eagles quarreled and a great blue heron hunted and captured a fish.
Following an ice cream buffet for our lunchtime dessert, our expedition leader announced that there would be some relaxing quiet time before an afternoon presentation by our undersea specialist. Well, that didn’t last long, because our second mate spotted killer whales! We rallied to the decks for excellent looks at two sub-groups including a couple of youngsters and watched them surface and breathe synchronously in impressive symmetry. These animals were resident killer whales, known for eating fish rather than marine mammals. The dorsal fins on males can reach six feet in height, and one certainly looked that large. Related killer whales travel in matrilineal pods and often remain together for life. After staying with these magnificent creatures for some time, the ship continued on its way, and we watched the postponed program on bears. A bit later in the afternoon, the younger guests on board partook in tours of the Bridge with the Captain. Another option for the younger crowd was a movie and pizza for dinner in the lounge, a nice ending to another busy day in Southeast Alaska.
