Kelp Bay & Lake Eva Trail

A whale of a day !

Today was a full day to say the least! Some of us woke early enough to catch a beautiful Alaska sunrise, with broken clouds and no wind. Those who woke at a civilized hour were not disappointed, as the weather was perfect all day.

After breakfast Mike and CT treated us to a wonderful presentation on their experiences with cetaceans. We learned much about whales from this and viewed stunning photographs by Mike. CT then graced us by singing the song of the Humpback.

Her song had immediate effects not only on all of us, but we soon found ourselves graced with a lone humpback feeding and fluking in the area. The weather stayed perfect, with no wind and lots of sun as the humpback did some minor bubble feeding, and also seemed to use out boat to herd its prey of fish.

For three hours we stayed with this whale, and everyone on board was delighted with the experience as well as their own photos of whale tails.

No sooner had we departed from our curious and friendly whale than we had escorts of the speeding Dall’s porpoise. These small porpoises are one of two kinds that can be found here in Alaska, numbering some 80,000 individuals. We all had as much fun as the porpoises watching them speed in front of our bow, surfacing to breath and surfing along for some time.

After lunch we dropped anchor in lovely Hanus Bay, and some of us hiked in the old growth forest along a beautiful stream that had steelhead trout swimming upstream to spawn. The anglers among us were chomping to fish, while the rest of us were in awe of these strong ocean going rainbow trout as we watched them from the bank of the Lake Eva River. The hike was like entering the magic forest as most of the forest floor was covered with a rich bed of moss, and the mostly Sitka spruce and Western Ceder trees were enormous overhead.

Some of also got to go kayaking in addition to the hike, or a Zodiac exploration was yet another option. Besides the Steelhead Trout, we saw river otters, and Barrow's goldeneye and woodpeckers, and our familiar friends, the robin.

There was no rest for the weary when we got back to the ship as some of us tried to download the days pictures to our computers. Before we knew it, appetizers were served and we were graced with Sharon, who dressed in a beautiful Haida robe and wore a Native American hat made of red cedar. She passed along the Native’s story of how the human being received the first Salmon.

After that and another memorable meal, we ended the day as we began it, with a wonderful show by mother nature as the sun set and lit some of the clouds and at that moment, wouldn’t you know it, some Dall’s porpoises came by momentarily to bid us good night.