Lake Eva
Wake up call found the National Geographic Sea Lion in Red Bluff Bay with the bow nosing up to a beautiful waterfall. The stretch class made circles around the ship in order to take in every angle of this towering cascade. The mist hung low and the air was crisp as the ship navigated out of the narrow opening of the bay, and we navigated into the dining room for breakfast.
The morning was full of excitement! We had just finished drills and briefs when several Dall’s porpoise and three humpback whales were spotted. Dall’s porpoise are one of the fastest mammals in the world and because of their distinctive black and white markings, they have at times, been mistaken for baby orca. There is no mistaking a humpback whale though. In this area, these creatures get to be about 50 feet long, weighing just under one ton per foot! Their huge pectoral fin, with its bright white underside, is the longest appendage of any mammal on earth. It is the unique markings on the fluke, however, that are photographed and used to identify individuals to track their movements and behaviors.
Just before lunch we had a second encounter with humpbacks. This time it was a mother and calf. Born in Hawaii at 13-15 feet and weighing in at about 1500 pounds, this calf will drink close to 50 pounds a day of its’ mother’s milk. It is no surprise then that the mother will lose almost 30% of her body mass in the process of birthing and migrating all the way north to Southeast Alaska. These massive creatures have a one-year gestation period that allows them to spend each winter in the warmer waters of Hawaii where they breed and give birth. They return to these waters in the summer to devour the abundant supply of schooling fish found in these nutrient rich waters.
This afternoon, at Lake Eva, we had our first opportunity to hike and kayak. As the sun came out, we peeled layers of clothing off. Several bald eagles silhouetted the blue skies as the kayakers worked their way up stream. The hikers explored further still, discovering dainty chocolate lilies and shooting stars right next to the thorny devil’s club. While one eye was on the slick and muddy trail, the other was open for scavenger hunt clues. Late in the day some hikers came upon a patch of old growth forest with a tree so large, it took seven people to wrap around it. The spongy ground added to the spring in our step, as we headed back to the shore. To think… this was only our first day!
Wake up call found the National Geographic Sea Lion in Red Bluff Bay with the bow nosing up to a beautiful waterfall. The stretch class made circles around the ship in order to take in every angle of this towering cascade. The mist hung low and the air was crisp as the ship navigated out of the narrow opening of the bay, and we navigated into the dining room for breakfast.
The morning was full of excitement! We had just finished drills and briefs when several Dall’s porpoise and three humpback whales were spotted. Dall’s porpoise are one of the fastest mammals in the world and because of their distinctive black and white markings, they have at times, been mistaken for baby orca. There is no mistaking a humpback whale though. In this area, these creatures get to be about 50 feet long, weighing just under one ton per foot! Their huge pectoral fin, with its bright white underside, is the longest appendage of any mammal on earth. It is the unique markings on the fluke, however, that are photographed and used to identify individuals to track their movements and behaviors.
Just before lunch we had a second encounter with humpbacks. This time it was a mother and calf. Born in Hawaii at 13-15 feet and weighing in at about 1500 pounds, this calf will drink close to 50 pounds a day of its’ mother’s milk. It is no surprise then that the mother will lose almost 30% of her body mass in the process of birthing and migrating all the way north to Southeast Alaska. These massive creatures have a one-year gestation period that allows them to spend each winter in the warmer waters of Hawaii where they breed and give birth. They return to these waters in the summer to devour the abundant supply of schooling fish found in these nutrient rich waters.
This afternoon, at Lake Eva, we had our first opportunity to hike and kayak. As the sun came out, we peeled layers of clothing off. Several bald eagles silhouetted the blue skies as the kayakers worked their way up stream. The hikers explored further still, discovering dainty chocolate lilies and shooting stars right next to the thorny devil’s club. While one eye was on the slick and muddy trail, the other was open for scavenger hunt clues. Late in the day some hikers came upon a patch of old growth forest with a tree so large, it took seven people to wrap around it. The spongy ground added to the spring in our step, as we headed back to the shore. To think… this was only our first day!
