OUR FIRST DAY IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA

On our first day in southeast Alaska we awoke literally surrounded by humpback whales!!! Good visibility and misty gray skies provided a perfect setting for what was about to unfold. The whales were swimming leisurely, showing their magnificent black backs, puffy blows, and distinctive flukes. This group of whales was still far enough away that it was necessary to track them with binoculars, and every eye on board was glued to a pair! We had to break for breakfast, but it was interrupted with a cheerful enticement to dash on deck where we stayed the rest of the morning. Gradually, the whales worked their way closer to the ship and we watched in awe as the group of about 10 whales remained in such close contact their bodies were almost touching, as they would slowly disappear beneath the surface and suddenly reappear. P<>As a dive begins, the whale's back arches above the surface of the water, rolls forward, and is followed by the fluke-up dive. Each humpback whale can be identified by the individual markings on the underside of the flukes and we were getting such good views that Larry Hobbs, our naturalist that had studied these whales in the 1970's, recognized one of the whales as "Big Mamma" and the other as "Bent." Since the 1970's, this remarkable pair of whales has often been seen together. The whales were so close to the ship on several occasions that their huge bodies exploded through the surface less than 100 feet away. This cooperative lunge-feeding lasted all morning. Sounds of whales, long tugboat groans, filled the air. Their great broccoli-breath wafted downwind, the waters rippled and bubbled, and then the whales rose in their unison circle, mouths agape, flashing their pink palates and black baleen, and falling over with throat pleats completely distended! The herring schools they were feasting on churned the water, thrashing and leaping in a frenzy as the whales herded them. It was all truly amazing and we were giddy with the spirit of the whales' presence.