Pavlof Harbor and Iyukeen Bay
Our last day in Southeast Alaska started with whales before breakfast. Traveling in small groups, several humpbacks made their way across Freshwater Bay. We followed their example to a glorious golden sunrise over Chichagof Island’s Pavlof Harbor. Balmy temperatures, lush green mountainsides and blue skies welcomed kayakers, Zodiac cruisers and hikers alike. As we entered the area around Pavlof Harbor’s salmon stream, we suddenly realized we were not alone. A young brown bear had emerged from the dense forest and calmly made its way toward the water. We froze in our tracks, marveling at this stranger in our midst. Shimmering in shades of silver and darker brown, the young bear did not seem the least perturbed by the presence of human visitors. He slowly ambled along the beach, completely focused on what the waters had to offer this morning. Suddenly, after inspecting a pink salmon, he startled, turning toward the woods, all senses on full alert. Eventually, he relaxed, settling on a large pink salmon, grabbing it and carrying it back towards the woods. All too soon, he disappeared from view, leaving us rapt to wonder what else was hiding in the thick of the forest along the shores of Pavlof Harbor.
As we left Pavlof and boarded the National Geographic Sea Lion, a series of distant spouts indicated the presence of humpback whales. We had barely made it through lunch, when news broke that we found a large group of whales engaged in bubble-net feeding, one of the most complex examples of teamwork in the animal kingdom. Dr. Fred Sharpe of the Alaska Whale Foundation joined us on board and explained how these whales get together every summer to hunt herring. We watched in awe as the whales organized at the surface, then descended one by one to herd herring off the bottom. We listened, as a whale called Scratch started to scream a loud feeding call, searing through the waters again and again to scare the herring into a bubble-net, which was created by another member of the whales’ hunting party. Then the waters seemed to erupt, when the group of giants surfaced through the center of the bubble-net, jaws agape, to swallow their hapless prey. Glaucous-winged gulls and Steller sea lions completed the explosion of life, as the whales continued to hunt throughout the afternoon.
Only when the shadows grew longer could we tear ourselves away from this incredible spectacle. We left the whales genuinely touched by the power of our experience… and hope we can bring some of the spirit of Southeast Alaska back into our daily lives.
