Pavlov Harbor, Chatham & Peril Straits
The shoreline of Chichagof Island is indented with hundreds of tiny bays and sheltered inlets. Today we visited one of these picturesque places, Pavlov Harbor. This site was used for centuries by native Tlingits. Russians and other explorers traveled in this region, and in the late 1800s, a busy cannery and saltery existed along the shoreline. A few old pilings and pieces of broken metal still remain as reminders of times gone by.
Shortly after breakfast we landed for morning activities. A carpet of seaweed covered the volcanic rocks in the intertidal region, and a narrow strip of meadow vegetation grew beneath Sitka alders that bordered the spruce-hemlock forest beyond. Hikers followed this margin to a cascading waterfall, and many then continued on to a lovely lake. Kayakers paddled through the quiet bay. A Zodiac cruise was another option.
Throughout much of the morning a sub-adult brown bear grazed not far from the kayak launching beach. It was a thrill to watch this magnificent creature eating with little concern about its human visitors. Bald eagles circled overhead or looked down at us from perches high in the tree tops. A tight school of splashing fish attracted two eagles, and one snatched up a meal with its sharp, curved talons.
In the afternoon, the National Geographic Sea Lion traveled along Chatham Strait. Our progress was happily interrupted by a group of at least eleven humpback whales cooperatively foraging. This type of behavior is called bubble-net feeding, and is only rarely observed outside of Southeast Alaska. The sunlight glistened on the smooth backs and flukes of the animals as they arched and then slipped out-of-sight. One member of the aggregation releases a circle of bubbles that rises in a shimmering curtain to corral prey. We waited expectantly until all of a sudden, mouths exploded into the air in a mass of lunging bodies. It was an almost unbelievable experience! Again and again the whales repeated this. We lingered with this group and watched tail-lobbing and other behaviors in addition to the cooperative feeding.
Eventually the ship resumed its course and finally entered a channel known as Peril Strait to follow a sheltered passage to Sitka. One might guess that this waterway is named for tricky navigational challenges, and the current can rush rapidly through one section called Sergius Narrows. But this is not the origin of the name. In 1799, approximately 150 Aleuts died here from eating toxic mussels tainted with paralytic shellfish poisoning. In contrast, our dinner of salmon, rib eye and risotto was fabulous. It was a beautiful last evening in this spectacular part of the world. Where else can you find eagles, bears, and whales all in one day?
The shoreline of Chichagof Island is indented with hundreds of tiny bays and sheltered inlets. Today we visited one of these picturesque places, Pavlov Harbor. This site was used for centuries by native Tlingits. Russians and other explorers traveled in this region, and in the late 1800s, a busy cannery and saltery existed along the shoreline. A few old pilings and pieces of broken metal still remain as reminders of times gone by.
Shortly after breakfast we landed for morning activities. A carpet of seaweed covered the volcanic rocks in the intertidal region, and a narrow strip of meadow vegetation grew beneath Sitka alders that bordered the spruce-hemlock forest beyond. Hikers followed this margin to a cascading waterfall, and many then continued on to a lovely lake. Kayakers paddled through the quiet bay. A Zodiac cruise was another option.
Throughout much of the morning a sub-adult brown bear grazed not far from the kayak launching beach. It was a thrill to watch this magnificent creature eating with little concern about its human visitors. Bald eagles circled overhead or looked down at us from perches high in the tree tops. A tight school of splashing fish attracted two eagles, and one snatched up a meal with its sharp, curved talons.
In the afternoon, the National Geographic Sea Lion traveled along Chatham Strait. Our progress was happily interrupted by a group of at least eleven humpback whales cooperatively foraging. This type of behavior is called bubble-net feeding, and is only rarely observed outside of Southeast Alaska. The sunlight glistened on the smooth backs and flukes of the animals as they arched and then slipped out-of-sight. One member of the aggregation releases a circle of bubbles that rises in a shimmering curtain to corral prey. We waited expectantly until all of a sudden, mouths exploded into the air in a mass of lunging bodies. It was an almost unbelievable experience! Again and again the whales repeated this. We lingered with this group and watched tail-lobbing and other behaviors in addition to the cooperative feeding.
Eventually the ship resumed its course and finally entered a channel known as Peril Strait to follow a sheltered passage to Sitka. One might guess that this waterway is named for tricky navigational challenges, and the current can rush rapidly through one section called Sergius Narrows. But this is not the origin of the name. In 1799, approximately 150 Aleuts died here from eating toxic mussels tainted with paralytic shellfish poisoning. In contrast, our dinner of salmon, rib eye and risotto was fabulous. It was a beautiful last evening in this spectacular part of the world. Where else can you find eagles, bears, and whales all in one day?
