Lake Eva and Kelp Bay
Our morning started with a silver-gray blanket of low clouds. We turned into Sitkoh Bay and found a brown bear in the intertidal zone. It grazed along the shore then entered the forest just before breakfast.
The Lake Eva trail was soon in sight, and kayaks and Zodiacs were lowered. The light mist didn’t enter the forest, so hiking was a perfect activity. Our hikes took us on a beautiful trail that wound through big Sitka spruce and gardens of skunk cabbage, shield ferns and blueberries. Kayakers explored the inner cove where eagles flew overhead.
Although the morning was fascinating, it was the afternoon that really “blew us away.” We were making our way into Kelp Bay when we encountered a humpback whale bubble-net feeding on krill, shrimp-like animals about ¾” to ½” long. To harvest these creatures, the whale swims in a circle letting out a stream of bubbles that rises to form a column scaring the krill to the center. The whale then turns upward into the tightly packed mass and forces it to the surface, where it opens its cavernous mouth and engulfs the concentrated crustaceans. This photo was taken as the humpback broke the surface. The upper jaw is on the left, and the pink palatal ridge is down the center of the mouth. The row of baleen plates hangs down on both sides as light-colored bands. The lower jaw is widely spread like a large bowl that contains seawater and thousands of krill that were caught in the last lunge. The baleen strains out the krill on the inside of the mouth before the tongue sweeps it back and down the throat. These leviathans can eat over a ton of food a day with this method.
By examining unique black and white patterns on the underside of the flukes, photos can identity most of the four hundred humpback whales in Southeast Alaska. One of our guests used a digital camera to photograph the one we were watching allowing us to identify it. So here we have it, “Ol” Number 1524 chow’n down on krill in the afternoon. Actually, we watched this behavior through our own dinner for over five hours! Later in the evening two whale researchers from the Alaska Whale Foundation joined us for dinner. As we finished our dessert, the announcement was made that killer whales were just ahead. In minutes, everyone was outside to watch these magnificent animals traveling near the ship. The evening ended with a slide program from the Alaska Whale Foundation.
Our morning started with a silver-gray blanket of low clouds. We turned into Sitkoh Bay and found a brown bear in the intertidal zone. It grazed along the shore then entered the forest just before breakfast.
The Lake Eva trail was soon in sight, and kayaks and Zodiacs were lowered. The light mist didn’t enter the forest, so hiking was a perfect activity. Our hikes took us on a beautiful trail that wound through big Sitka spruce and gardens of skunk cabbage, shield ferns and blueberries. Kayakers explored the inner cove where eagles flew overhead.
Although the morning was fascinating, it was the afternoon that really “blew us away.” We were making our way into Kelp Bay when we encountered a humpback whale bubble-net feeding on krill, shrimp-like animals about ¾” to ½” long. To harvest these creatures, the whale swims in a circle letting out a stream of bubbles that rises to form a column scaring the krill to the center. The whale then turns upward into the tightly packed mass and forces it to the surface, where it opens its cavernous mouth and engulfs the concentrated crustaceans. This photo was taken as the humpback broke the surface. The upper jaw is on the left, and the pink palatal ridge is down the center of the mouth. The row of baleen plates hangs down on both sides as light-colored bands. The lower jaw is widely spread like a large bowl that contains seawater and thousands of krill that were caught in the last lunge. The baleen strains out the krill on the inside of the mouth before the tongue sweeps it back and down the throat. These leviathans can eat over a ton of food a day with this method.
By examining unique black and white patterns on the underside of the flukes, photos can identity most of the four hundred humpback whales in Southeast Alaska. One of our guests used a digital camera to photograph the one we were watching allowing us to identify it. So here we have it, “Ol” Number 1524 chow’n down on krill in the afternoon. Actually, we watched this behavior through our own dinner for over five hours! Later in the evening two whale researchers from the Alaska Whale Foundation joined us for dinner. As we finished our dessert, the announcement was made that killer whales were just ahead. In minutes, everyone was outside to watch these magnificent animals traveling near the ship. The evening ended with a slide program from the Alaska Whale Foundation.
