“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” -Mary Oliver
“Good morning… good morning,” came the gentle voice of our expedition leader over the PA at 6:50a.m. this morning. “We are in… Freshwater Bay, and you might have noticed that the ship is not moving very much and that’s because we have some humpback whales in the vicinity that we’ve been watching. So if you are not already out on deck, you might want to get your binoculars and cameras and come join us out here. It is 47 degrees out this morning under some high clouds, and off to the east it’s very clear, you can see the peaks in the distance, so looks like we could have a good day in store for us. And we will probably stay with these humpback whales until breakfast, unless something else even better lures us away... Until then, welcome to Southeast Alaska.”
The stretch class began on the bridge deck aft not long after this announcement, and over the next 20 minutes a handful of humpback whales gathered from various directions. To the joyous shock of all watching, there were a few breaches and slapping of pec fins on the surface, and then the whales arched their backs, and presented their flukes as they dived down. All was calm and quiet for a time, and then what happened next astounded even the naturalists onboard: the water exploded with huge gaping mouths. These whales were bubble-net feeding! This is something seen only here in Southeast Alaska, but usually not until late June or even early July. Since the process of this cooperative feeding involves one whale singing to tighten the prey into a denser ball just prior to surfacing, the naturalists quickly dropped the hydrophone in the water. Stretchers just finishing on the aft deck heard the vocalization and quickly moved to the port side where the whales had last been seen and got to see their first bubble-net feeding. Unimaginable!
After several rounds of feeding, the whales breached and pec-slapped again, and then seemed to be finished with that. However, fifteen minutes into breakfast the starboard side was treated to four whales breaching simultaneously! This was followed by more breaching, pec-slapping and tail-lobbing. Morning briefings and shore activities appropriately put on hold, all gathered on the decks to watch numerous more rounds of bubble-net feeding. Wow!
Later in the morning, National Geographic Sea Lion anchored at Iyoukeen Inlet for introductory walks into the temperate rainforest of Chichagof Island. Stepping among towering Sitka spruce and Western hemlock, sometimes along bear trails, sometimes bushwhacking our own trails. Naturalists began pointing out the complex web of flora and fauna found in this beautiful region. Afternoon activities included a Photo Basics presentation, followed by kayak and Zodiac explorations of Basket Bay with a beautifully scenic hidden grotto, navigable by our smaller boats only during certain tidal conditions. Described by one person as a “magical place, like a hobbit’s dwelling…”
What a full day we’ve had, and it’s only 6:30p.m. We are about to begin evening recap, followed by dinner, and who knows what as we set sail later this evening. Welcome to Southeast Alaska!
