Pavlof Harbor & Chatham Strait
Another hazy morning with bright sunshine brought us out of our beds today. In the wee hours of the morning, the National Geographic Sea Lion entered Freshwater Bay. As breakfast came and went, we made our way to a little nook within the bay called Pavlof Harbor. With the tide all the way out, those that went to shore carefully picked their way through the bright mauve, orange and brown sea stars, midnight blue mussels, sharp white barnacles and floppy rock weed in the intertidal zone.
At the head of Pavlof Harbor, on Chichagof Island, there is a small river with a cascade and a fish ladder. This time of year, there are a lot of pink salmon heading upstream. While they can make it up this cascade without the fish ladder, jumping from one micro-eddy to another, it was constructed to help boost the salmon populations and make it easier for more fish to get upstream to spawn.
The brown bears in the area know about the abundant supply of tasty salmon that make their way up this river, so they frequently come out of the forest to catch fish just below the cascade. On the first interpretive walks of the morning, there was nothing but the reminders of the bears’ presence; fish innards spread out on a rock, fresh scat along the trail. However, later in the morning, our hopes were met when a brown bear sow and her two cubs ambled out of the dark forest and into the stream. Time slowed and all eyes were riveted on the three bears while they galloped around in the shallows, chased fish and happily devouring them. It was as if we could all recall a simpler time when that’s all life was about: the joy of playing outside, sharing a meal with loved ones and splashing in puddles.
Cruising towards Point Adolphus in the afternoon, we passed a group of humpback whales just as we entered Icy Strait. These whales, as opposed to the whales we saw cooperatively bubble-net feeding two nights ago, were feeding in a different way. There were many that we saw lunging out of the water to capture food in their open mouths.
The day came to a close with more beautiful scenery and whale tails on the horizon.
