Point Adolphus and George Island
At dawn we cruised with two humpback whales that fed near the ship. Many other whale blows surrounded us as we plied the famed humpback whale waters of Point Adolphus. The whales surfaced and dove and we followed along as they fed, eventually coming across innumerable bald eagles. Dozens dove at the water, catching small fish. Dozens more were perched in the trees and on shore, spying the water closely and rising up to make hunting swoops whenever they saw fish near the surface.
Of course, all of this feeding activity made us hungry and we gladly went down to breakfast. It’s a good thing we were so well fortified because after breakfast we continued our productive wanderings.
Three tufted puffins posed in perfectly calm water right near the bow then we came across our first sea otter, paddling on its back, terminally cute and very photogenic. Then we came across another grouping of humpbacks and as we neared, one of them began to breach. We watched about ten spectacular full-body breaches, as well as some tail lobbing and spyhopping right near the bow of the ship. Then the whales became calmer but started feeding together. A half dozen humpbacks dove, raised their tail flukes and then repeatedly came up together. As they went below the surface once more, we lowered the hydrophone into the water and listened to an array of haunting whale vocalizations emanating from below.
The sun shone on us, the whales serenaded one another then seemed to rise from right below the ship, a sea lion vied for our attention and we found several more sea otters and it wasn’t even lunchtime.
During the afternoon, we anchored at George Island for some hiking, sea kayaking and Zodiac cruising. The sun danced out from behind the clouds yet again and the waters were glassy calm. Eagle nests towered above us, we explored the mudflats for tracks and traces, and otters and sea lions accompanied our maritime pursuits.
We finally decided to pull the blinds so that we could have cocktails and dinner without being interrupted by yet another out-of-this-world Alaskan wildlife experience.
At dawn we cruised with two humpback whales that fed near the ship. Many other whale blows surrounded us as we plied the famed humpback whale waters of Point Adolphus. The whales surfaced and dove and we followed along as they fed, eventually coming across innumerable bald eagles. Dozens dove at the water, catching small fish. Dozens more were perched in the trees and on shore, spying the water closely and rising up to make hunting swoops whenever they saw fish near the surface.
Of course, all of this feeding activity made us hungry and we gladly went down to breakfast. It’s a good thing we were so well fortified because after breakfast we continued our productive wanderings.
Three tufted puffins posed in perfectly calm water right near the bow then we came across our first sea otter, paddling on its back, terminally cute and very photogenic. Then we came across another grouping of humpbacks and as we neared, one of them began to breach. We watched about ten spectacular full-body breaches, as well as some tail lobbing and spyhopping right near the bow of the ship. Then the whales became calmer but started feeding together. A half dozen humpbacks dove, raised their tail flukes and then repeatedly came up together. As they went below the surface once more, we lowered the hydrophone into the water and listened to an array of haunting whale vocalizations emanating from below.
The sun shone on us, the whales serenaded one another then seemed to rise from right below the ship, a sea lion vied for our attention and we found several more sea otters and it wasn’t even lunchtime.
During the afternoon, we anchored at George Island for some hiking, sea kayaking and Zodiac cruising. The sun danced out from behind the clouds yet again and the waters were glassy calm. Eagle nests towered above us, we explored the mudflats for tracks and traces, and otters and sea lions accompanied our maritime pursuits.
We finally decided to pull the blinds so that we could have cocktails and dinner without being interrupted by yet another out-of-this-world Alaskan wildlife experience.
