Juneau and Killer Whales
When Sea Bird docked in downtown Juneau this morning, we quickly realized we were not the only visitors who had arrived by sea today. There were 5 large cruise ships in town, each carrying about 2000 people. It seemed that all 10,000 of them were at the numerous shops and jewelry stores of downtown. Most of us from Sea Bird visited Mendenhall Glacier and the Alaska State Museum. A few of our hardier souls hiked a long, mountainside trail on this damp day, and another adventurous few flew by helicopter to the top of the glacier, where they walked on the ice.
As interesting as Juneau might be, I think we all felt relieved to leave the crowded streets behind and continue our journey southward. We had not traveled far when naturalist Bryan sighted the distinctive, tall fins of killer whales. Black fins sliced through calm, gray waters under gray skies. There were about 8 black and white animals swimming to the south. We listened for their vocalizations with the hydrophone, but the group was fairly quiet. Could this be a pod of mammal-eating killer whales? They are much quieter than their fish-eating cousins. On several occasions we observed a large male and a smaller animal rolling belly to belly. There was no mistaking ‘pink floyd’ as one of the males rolled upside-down at the surface. We traveled with them slowly as they surfaced, breached, slapped pectoral flippers on the surface, and rolled together.
We heard a fog horn, and saw a cruise ship about a mile away gliding over the water at 20 knots. Our captain spoke on the radio with their officer on watch, informing them of the killer whale pod we were watching. “Thanks,” the officer on the other ship replied, “but we have a tight schedule to keep.” That ship looked like a ghost ship; her upper decks disappeared in the low clouds.
We enjoyed the company of the killer whales for 2 hours. Close encounters with nature are so much better for the soul than shopping.
When Sea Bird docked in downtown Juneau this morning, we quickly realized we were not the only visitors who had arrived by sea today. There were 5 large cruise ships in town, each carrying about 2000 people. It seemed that all 10,000 of them were at the numerous shops and jewelry stores of downtown. Most of us from Sea Bird visited Mendenhall Glacier and the Alaska State Museum. A few of our hardier souls hiked a long, mountainside trail on this damp day, and another adventurous few flew by helicopter to the top of the glacier, where they walked on the ice.
As interesting as Juneau might be, I think we all felt relieved to leave the crowded streets behind and continue our journey southward. We had not traveled far when naturalist Bryan sighted the distinctive, tall fins of killer whales. Black fins sliced through calm, gray waters under gray skies. There were about 8 black and white animals swimming to the south. We listened for their vocalizations with the hydrophone, but the group was fairly quiet. Could this be a pod of mammal-eating killer whales? They are much quieter than their fish-eating cousins. On several occasions we observed a large male and a smaller animal rolling belly to belly. There was no mistaking ‘pink floyd’ as one of the males rolled upside-down at the surface. We traveled with them slowly as they surfaced, breached, slapped pectoral flippers on the surface, and rolled together.
We heard a fog horn, and saw a cruise ship about a mile away gliding over the water at 20 knots. Our captain spoke on the radio with their officer on watch, informing them of the killer whale pod we were watching. “Thanks,” the officer on the other ship replied, “but we have a tight schedule to keep.” That ship looked like a ghost ship; her upper decks disappeared in the low clouds.
We enjoyed the company of the killer whales for 2 hours. Close encounters with nature are so much better for the soul than shopping.
