Chatham Strait and Pavlof Harbor
Our first full day in southeast Alaska and we saw so many wonderful things. It started with three brown bears feeding in the same salmon stream. We saw the smaller sized bear catch a fish and then had to leave half of it behind as one of the larger bears came over to take it away from him. The third bear was the largest of them all and he was huge yet walked with such grace.
A little bit later we found several humpback whales. One of them was a playful calf that came up right next to the ship. It lobbed its tail high out of the water in an impressive bout of surface active behavior. The female was staying down for at least ten minutes, probably feeding, while we on National Geographic Sea Lion enjoyed watching the calf’s behaviors.
Just as the mother and calf pair swam away, Dr. Fred Sharpe from the Alaska Whale Foundation came onboard. Fred has been studying humpback whales that feed in the rich, productive waters of Southeast Alaska each summer. He gave us a presentation about his interesting research about their feeding behaviors and social interactions.
After lunch we explored Pavlof Harbor, our first chance to explore the temperate rain forest. Pavlof Harbor also has an active salmon stream and we had several glimpses of bear bears feeding in the stream. One bear would catch a fish and then take it back into the forest to quietly eat it near one of the hiking trails. It was an amazing opportunity to watch the bears and hear about all the interconnectedness of the forest ecosystem. What a great first day!
