Funter Bay, Lynn Canal, and Point Retreat Lighthouse
To say today was nice would be a tremendous understatement. We began our day in beautiful Funter bay after rumors of exceptional wildlife. As every guest can attest, we were not let down.
We started with kayaking around the winding shoreline. Guests had a nice opportunity to do some independent exploration, taking in the sights and sounds from a foot above sea level. We were treated with calm weather, which made for serene ambient sounds from Wrens, Thrushes, and Eagles echoing over the water.
We also led walks through the woods, and guests got another opportunity to see some unique forest ecology. There were also signs of previous inhabitation, including traces from an old cannery. Today the trees have all-but swallowed the old buildings, leaving the imagination to bring us to a time when the buildings stood tall. Pilings from an old dock now extend high up the shoreline far from the water’s edge. This is from isostatic rebound, a process raising the Alaskan lands 1-2 inches every year after the glacier’s retreat.
While the guests were busy exploring Funter Bay’s shoreline and forest flora, I dove 60 feet down to explore unseen underwater life. The dive was exceptional with Giant sea cucumbers 20 inches long and 5 inches thick, by far the largest I’ve seen. Huge Sunflower sea stars also made their way across the rich bottom, in search for clams, smaller stars, or a variety of other prey. The treat for me was more than the enormous predators, but rather, the delicate beauty of a Clown nudibranch shown here.
Not long after departing Funter Bay, we found a small pod of Orca making their way down the coast. We followed them on their journey, and while we got nice views and photos, up ahead we spotted a group of Dall’s porpoises approaching. The tension rose as we would soon find out if these Orcas were in search of fish or marine mammals. As the Dall’s porpoises approached the Orcas, they turned 180 degrees, then actually joined alongside the Orcas in search of fish, answering our question. These Orcas had no interest in a Dall’s porpoise lunch, proving our hypothesis these Orcas were residents and fish-feeding.
After departing the Orcas and Porpoises, we were soon called back out on deck for sighting more than a dozen Humpback whales together in the distance. As we approached, we counted 21 flukes rising and sinking as the whales disappeared below the surface. We waited in suspense. A short while later, more than 15 whales shot out of the surface with mouths agape in what is known as bubblenet lunge feeding. Each humpback is approximately 40 feet long and as many tons in weight. Each mouth can expand to a size large enough to engulf a VW microbus. This behavior is very rare and makes up the largest biomechanical event on planet earth. We were extremely lucky to enjoy repeated lunges over and over.
We finished the afternoon with a beautiful visit to the Point Retreat lighthouse on the northernmost tip of Admiralty Island. With stunning panoramic views, close-flying Bald eagles, a fleeting rainbow over the National Geographic Sea Lion, and a nice sunset, we are all wondering how we can be so lucky.
