Chatham Strait & Pavlof Harbor, Chichagof Island
We were on a hunting mission this morning - for a moving target. Perhaps we could be lucky and find another company of humpback whales in an impressive display of cooperation, coordination and perfect timing as they fed as a group. Singles and pairs appeared throughout the morning, each giving us thrilling views, but no group was sighted in this tangled array of straits, passages, canals, bays and sounds. So, with a vast choice of options, we went on to other things, including a presentation about the strange balance between salmon, bears, forests and food production.
A small, protected cove off Freshwater Bay of the east side of Chichagof Island (the “C” of the “ABC” islands) accepted our anchor shortly after noon. Pavlof Harbor has a rich history of use, first by the Hoonah Tlingit people native to this region, and later by explorers, fur traders, fish processors and sport fishers. Having been the site of periodic fur trading by the Hudson Bay Company (whose agents were more than a short distance out of their legal Canadian trading territory), an early fish cannery was established here, soon to be replaced by a saltery.
Healthy runs of four of the five species of Pacific salmon struggling up and over a waterfall that drains Pavlof Lake were the magnet for all of this early use. And it was the salmon that attracted us. Because where there are salmon there will be bears. Even as we set out on short walks to the falls and lake, a young brown (grizzly) bear sauntered toward the falls, arriving just as our walkers and kayakers settled in quietly to watch in awe. So close and so impressive! The salmon were here. Schools of sleek but ghostly images moved in the clear mixing of fresh and salt water. Some had penetrated into the twisted shallows below the falls, while others launched themselves – often fruitlessly – in an effort to scale the plunging water and reach the calm lake above. With time, most will find a twin fish ladder, a baffle-filled concrete channel, that slows the falling water and provides strategic back-eddies for easy “climbing” to the lake. Spawning beds lie beyond, in the creeks that feed the lake.
This young bear showed increasing dexterity in lunging after panicked pink and chum salmon and soon had its fill of six or more. Later, two other larger and more experienced bears appeared, one poking out from the base of a steep hillside only moments after some of our group had walked past that point. These two bears also enjoyed the chase and the taste, sending thrills through all of us. From the river bank, from the crest of the falls or from our kayaks, we watched transfixed. We were witnesses to an ancient annual ritual.
Our day of excitement was not over. As dinner was about to be called, two humpback whales appeared off our bow, and spectacular surface behaviors soon began. Towering breaches culminated in towering splashes and thundering reports. Repeated pec slapping and lob-tailing followed. Our photographs will show the perfect light of evening’s setting sun. We wonder why these boisterous activities occur. Could it be that these individuals felt slighted, having been outdone by the bears?
