Iyoukeen Cove and Pavlof Harbor, Alaska
Never did we expect to experience many of the best wildlife sightings that Southeast Alaska has to offer all on our very first day! What a truly extraordinary beginning it was: whales in the morning and bears in the afternoon.
From the moment we emerged from our cabins at the first light of day, right up until lunch was called, we enjoyed whale-watching at its best. The weather and viewing conditions were perfect. With stunning scenery everywhere we looked, we had great fun watching groups of humpback whales. Humpback whales are one of the most surface-active of the larger baleen whales, well-known for their acrobatics, and as Melville wrote “...they are the most gamesome and lighthearted of all the whales.” We felt very fortunate to witness most of their ‘lightheartedness’ as they slapped their giant pectoral flippers on the surface of the water and performed head lunges, fluke-waving, lob-tailing, and breaching. All heads turned to port, then to starboard, then back again to port as we watched these champion 30-ton acrobats. Not only were we seeing single individuals breaching again and again, but on several occasions two whales burst out of the water in total synchrony, in a spectacular double breach. The whales soon became more coordinated and synchronous as they began to gather in a larger group of about 15-20. This, however, was not just an ordinary group of humpbacks – these were “social foragers,” which have been studied here since the 1980’s. These hungry humpbacks were engaged in a spectacular method of prey capture called bubble-net feeding. It is known to occur only here in Southeast Alaska. They were feasting on herring that they had captured using bubbles and sound as tools. Once encircled in a rising net of bubbles, the giant, gaping mouths of the humpback whales quickly engulfed the herring.
Our visual feast was greatly enhanced with the aid of the ship’s hydrophone (an underwater microphone) that enabled us to hear the vocalizations they use to stun their prey. At first we could hear nothing, but within a few minutes, the long, haunting feeding call was heard. This was immediately followed by a circling cloud of gulls, and then the explosion of whales up through the surface of the water. They were still feasting when Pieter Folkens and his associates from the Alaska Whale Foundation came aboard and provided a stimulating and informative interpretation of the behaviors of these mammals.
Later on, we explored a small inlet and river, which was full of coho (silver) and pink (humpback) salmon making their way up over a waterfall. To our surprise, the whales weren’t the only ones feasting this morning. Hikers, kayakers and Zodiac cruisers were treated to the sight of four brown bears. They had gathered here for the annual salmon run to load up on protein and fats, which must carry them through the winter. An extra treat for all of us was to see two cubs of-the-year frolicking along the shoreline and learning how to participate in the salmon feast.
In just one day we have learned that many extraordinary things can happen in Southeast Alaska. We just don’t know where or when.
Never did we expect to experience many of the best wildlife sightings that Southeast Alaska has to offer all on our very first day! What a truly extraordinary beginning it was: whales in the morning and bears in the afternoon.
From the moment we emerged from our cabins at the first light of day, right up until lunch was called, we enjoyed whale-watching at its best. The weather and viewing conditions were perfect. With stunning scenery everywhere we looked, we had great fun watching groups of humpback whales. Humpback whales are one of the most surface-active of the larger baleen whales, well-known for their acrobatics, and as Melville wrote “...they are the most gamesome and lighthearted of all the whales.” We felt very fortunate to witness most of their ‘lightheartedness’ as they slapped their giant pectoral flippers on the surface of the water and performed head lunges, fluke-waving, lob-tailing, and breaching. All heads turned to port, then to starboard, then back again to port as we watched these champion 30-ton acrobats. Not only were we seeing single individuals breaching again and again, but on several occasions two whales burst out of the water in total synchrony, in a spectacular double breach. The whales soon became more coordinated and synchronous as they began to gather in a larger group of about 15-20. This, however, was not just an ordinary group of humpbacks – these were “social foragers,” which have been studied here since the 1980’s. These hungry humpbacks were engaged in a spectacular method of prey capture called bubble-net feeding. It is known to occur only here in Southeast Alaska. They were feasting on herring that they had captured using bubbles and sound as tools. Once encircled in a rising net of bubbles, the giant, gaping mouths of the humpback whales quickly engulfed the herring.
Our visual feast was greatly enhanced with the aid of the ship’s hydrophone (an underwater microphone) that enabled us to hear the vocalizations they use to stun their prey. At first we could hear nothing, but within a few minutes, the long, haunting feeding call was heard. This was immediately followed by a circling cloud of gulls, and then the explosion of whales up through the surface of the water. They were still feasting when Pieter Folkens and his associates from the Alaska Whale Foundation came aboard and provided a stimulating and informative interpretation of the behaviors of these mammals.
Later on, we explored a small inlet and river, which was full of coho (silver) and pink (humpback) salmon making their way up over a waterfall. To our surprise, the whales weren’t the only ones feasting this morning. Hikers, kayakers and Zodiac cruisers were treated to the sight of four brown bears. They had gathered here for the annual salmon run to load up on protein and fats, which must carry them through the winter. An extra treat for all of us was to see two cubs of-the-year frolicking along the shoreline and learning how to participate in the salmon feast.
In just one day we have learned that many extraordinary things can happen in Southeast Alaska. We just don’t know where or when.
