Chatham Strait and Pavlof Harbor
What a day! We woke up to a real surprise, the rain had stopped! You can’t visit the rain forest without some liquid sunshine, but we hoped this would be an omen for the day and IT SO WAS! The day started with our main hope of the day, humpback whales, sighted on the horizon. These individuals are pretty unique and collect together every summer to feed on the shoals of herring that are found in Chatham Strait. As we headed towards them we woke from a pleasant slumber in flat calm seas. However, on the way we were distracted. Two bears were spotted on the shore, feeding in a salmon stream. The ship changed direction and we had great views of two Alaskan brown bears gambling around in the water, trying to catch their breakfast. Everyone was enjoying the spectacle, but we were distracted again, on this day of days.
Our attention was drawn by four killer whales, a group of three with a distinctive male, and another large male off in the distance. The distinctive male had a couple of small tears at the back of his fin that made him easy to identify.
After breakfast we caught up with our ever approaching target, the bubble net feeding humpbacks. This group of unrelated animals comes together at this time of year and dive under the herring shoals. They corral them with their white fins, a curtain of bubbles and some amazing vocalizations, which we could hear on the hydrophone. Once we heard the noise we knew that very soon they would burst through the surface and scoop up the concentrated herring. This spectacle kept on going and going with “oohs” and “aahs” as the whales kept erupting at the surface every few minutes, and the pixels were captured in a flurry of clicks and beeps. Justin was constantly on hand to help us work our cameras and capture the moment. Naturalist Pete Pederson expertly described the behavior, and a whale researcher, Andy Szabaro, who visited for the morning gave us fascinating insights into the long-term study of this group of animals. What a morning!
In the afternoon we went to Pavlov Harbor, which has a large stream running out of a lake that tumbles over a large waterfall into the sea. This is the perfect habitat for spawning salmon. This is the time of year when the salmon are coming in for the last test of their short lives, to climb their “Mount Everest” and head beyond the lake to spawn. The abundance of salmon brings in the bears, and the bears attract us. The bears put on a show for us, feeding in the stream, grabbing salmon and heading back into the forest to eat in private. At one stage two bears were disputing the ownership of a salmon, which is one domestic dispute that could go horribly wrong. Everyone got great views of the bears, from Zodiacs, from kayaks or the shore. What a kayaking experience, silently paddling up the harbor as the biggest land predator on earth filled itself with the energy it needs to get through the winter. Then before we settled, we had one last chance to see the bubble net feeding humpbacks in the glorious early evening light. After dinner we had a late recap to review the events of the day. Pete further explained the behavior of the humpback whales whilst Justin gave us an amazing video presentation on the underwater life just off Pavlov Harbor. He showed us that life underwater is as rich as that on the land. Can things get any better? Well let’s see what tomorrow brings.
