Two logging humpback whales greeted us as we steamed towards Hanus Bay. After a hearty breakfast, and with the sun glistening off the calm waters, we made our way ashore at the Lake Eva trailhead. The tide was low and as we picked our way through the cockle shells, butter clams, and lonely sea stars that filled the intertidal zone; we found a young brown bear making his way along the shoreline. Once he was on his way, the various hiking groups set off to explore the beautiful forest along the Lake Eva trail.
Our undersea specialist, Carlos, brought his dry suit and GoPro camera along to get some video footage of the fish in the river. He stopped at a calm pool, donned his dry suit and set his camera in the water. Twenty minutes later, he had excellent footage of pink salmon, a chum salmon, and several steelhead trout that were plying the waters.
After lunch we sailed south through the Chatham Strait and kept a keen eye out for whale activity. We were richly rewarded for our efforts, and just after lunch ended we received the call, “Humpbacks bubblenetting!” Bubblenetting is a cooperative feeding behavior where four or more humpbacks work together to feed on herring. One whale encircles the herring with bubbles while another uses a special sound to scare them. At the same time another whale uses his white fins to keep the herring within the circle of bubbles. The whales then rise quickly to the surface right through the center of the bubble ring and erupt from the water with mouths agape to engulf herring. It is spectacular to see and we were lucky enough to watch this unusual behavior for over 2:30 hours!
Just before dinner, a whale researcher, Dr. Andy Szabo, came aboard and gave us a wonderful presentation about humpback whales and helped answer some of the many questions we had from our earlier experience.
Just as we finished dinner, Larry called us on to deck to see the waterfall at the end of Red Bluff Bay. We all crowded onto the bow and filled our memory cards with pictures of the waterfall and lots of “selfies” too!
The setting sun colored the sky a luscious red as we made our way out through the narrow Red Bluff Bay. We all headed off to our cabins to download our images and recharge our batteries. It was a long, but exhilarating day, and we went to bed with smiles on our faces savoring another glorious day in Alaska.
