Icy Strait, Alaska
Breaching humpback whales greeted us this morning at Point Adolphus. Located at the northern terminus of the Inside Passage, currents around the point concentrate herring-- a favored food of these summering whales. While one yearling calf continued to amaze us with gambols and breaches, several females lunged amide the herring, gulping swimming pool-sized swallows of fish. Our Undersea Specialist Iliana Ortega dropped a hydrophone near the whales in order to record their siren-like underwater vocalizations used to coordinate their feeding.
Later while cruising between the narrow Inian Passage which leads to the open Pacific, we were startled by an unexpected breach just off our bow. We slowed quickly to a halt, speechless at the 40 ton leviathan that had thrown itself out of the water, acrobatically turned and landed with a thunderous explosion of spume and spray. A few moments later the large humpback surfaced this time accompanied by a new calf and swam by. Our naturalists have seen similar behavior off Hawaii where protective mothers breach to warn or frighten away tiger sharks. And here too it seemed obvious that the mother wanted to signal us that she had the right-of-way with her young charge.
Numerous rafts of resting sea otters also were observed on the glassy waters of Idaho Inlet. Shrill piercing cries also attested to the presence of new-born pups which could be seen nestled on the chests of their sleeping mothers. Stellar sea lions also prowled the nearby waters chasing salmon and herring accompanied by wheeling flocks of Black-legged kittiwakes and Pelagic cormorants.
After lunch we launched kayaks from one of the Shaw Islands for a leisurely paddle witnessed by curious Harbor seals. Ashore hikers explored a bog finding orchids, two species of sundews and numerous violet colored butterworts, another unusual insectivorous bog plant.
After a scrumptious salmon dinner, we watched a slide-illustrated account of naturalist's Keith Nyitray's incredible trek across the Brooks Range in 1989-1990 with his dog Smoke-- an account popularized by the April 1993 issue of National Geographic.
Breaching humpback whales greeted us this morning at Point Adolphus. Located at the northern terminus of the Inside Passage, currents around the point concentrate herring-- a favored food of these summering whales. While one yearling calf continued to amaze us with gambols and breaches, several females lunged amide the herring, gulping swimming pool-sized swallows of fish. Our Undersea Specialist Iliana Ortega dropped a hydrophone near the whales in order to record their siren-like underwater vocalizations used to coordinate their feeding.
Later while cruising between the narrow Inian Passage which leads to the open Pacific, we were startled by an unexpected breach just off our bow. We slowed quickly to a halt, speechless at the 40 ton leviathan that had thrown itself out of the water, acrobatically turned and landed with a thunderous explosion of spume and spray. A few moments later the large humpback surfaced this time accompanied by a new calf and swam by. Our naturalists have seen similar behavior off Hawaii where protective mothers breach to warn or frighten away tiger sharks. And here too it seemed obvious that the mother wanted to signal us that she had the right-of-way with her young charge.
Numerous rafts of resting sea otters also were observed on the glassy waters of Idaho Inlet. Shrill piercing cries also attested to the presence of new-born pups which could be seen nestled on the chests of their sleeping mothers. Stellar sea lions also prowled the nearby waters chasing salmon and herring accompanied by wheeling flocks of Black-legged kittiwakes and Pelagic cormorants.
After lunch we launched kayaks from one of the Shaw Islands for a leisurely paddle witnessed by curious Harbor seals. Ashore hikers explored a bog finding orchids, two species of sundews and numerous violet colored butterworts, another unusual insectivorous bog plant.
After a scrumptious salmon dinner, we watched a slide-illustrated account of naturalist's Keith Nyitray's incredible trek across the Brooks Range in 1989-1990 with his dog Smoke-- an account popularized by the April 1993 issue of National Geographic.
